Trees
by Greed's Accident
Summary: A lodge in the middle of nowhere which makes people dissappear for a period of time, sometimes up to a week long, draws the attention of SPR! light MaiNaru
1. Trees

Allo! Hey I'm back! After a relatively short break (although longer than I expected!), I am here with the next story! I didn't really know how to write a description for this... But yeah! You guys wont be upset about that right? Yeah okay!

This is the sequel to my other story_ (Clouds), _it happens after it (Whenever that is...). After this, I am planning a third... Anywho.. yeah there are a couple references to the story but, you don't have to worry about that... and you'll get it when you get there. Don't worry this chapter has the most. So that means that if you didn't read it, I guess it was pretty long, you probably shouldn't worry about bothering. Althoug for the next one (Ive decided it will be called. _The Only One_) You will have needed to read the first, but the second wont be necessary.

Whatever! I gess it doesn't really matter that much. Enjoy, onegaishimasu!!

Updates may be a bit slower than with my other story, because I am now in school... Ahh how terrible! I have such a hard semester! Not that the other is better... (phwoo)

Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. This disclaimer applies to all subsequent chapters in this story.

* * *

1-

It had been at least 2 months since Naru had accepted any sort of case. Mai wondered how they managed to stay open full time when there was rarely anyone asking for help.

Honestly, she was willing to take any sort of case that came through the door. But Naru maintained his standards. There didn't seem to be any less people coming in(not that Mai thought there were a lot in the first place). There just seemed to be less people with anything promising.

But it couldn't stay like that for much longer. Honestly! Surely there had to be one person who could have something for them to do!

Mai yawned as she looked outside. It was already dark. "I'm going home now!" she called, in case anybody cared.

There was no response, so Mai took that to mean that nobody _did _care. She grabbed her jacket, and made her way into the evening. It was chilly with a little bit of a breeze, but Mai's coat kept that out.

* * *

After school, Mai showed up at the office. Neither Lin nor Naru were visible. But they were there. So Mai immediately got to work with a pot of tea.

There was a knock on the door. Mai's ears perked hopefully. _Maybe someone has come with a case! Maybe Naru would be desperate enough to take it!_

Mai opened the door. Sadly, her boredom would not yet be cured. "Good afternoon Mai!" Ayako said, and walked in past her.

Mai closed the door, and Ayako sat down on one of the couches. "What brings you here?" Mai went back to the kitchen and began to prepare tea.

"Well, somebody I met thinks they have a problem with a spirit, and they want it dealt with. And while I really want to help, I have some business and I will be away for a week." She looked over to Mai. "I know, a week isn't that long. But she needs it dealt with right away."

Mai finished with the tea, and set two cups on the table before returning to the kitchen to bring Naru's cup to his office. "I guess, so long as there is actually a problem in Naru's mind." She knocked on the door. "Naru I have some tea."

Mai opened the door, and set the tea on Naru's desk. "You're welcome." She said, without bothering to wait for a thank you she knew wasn't coming, before leaving.

Back outside, Ayako sighed. "Honestly. If I were you, I would wait in there every time until he says anything. He has to earn eventually. And I think that since you like him it is your responsibility." Ayako said, shrugging, and drinking some tea.

Mai stared for a moment, blushing. "Ayako..." She looked back to make sure the door was completely shut. Because if it was open at all, there would be no way for her to think that maybe Naru hadn't heard. Luckily, it was.

Ayako noticed her discomfort and laughed a bit before continuing "Anyway. I asked her to come by today. I don't know if you remember, but its a receptionist at the hospital from the last case. Do you remember her? Komaya?" Ayako looked to see if Mai recognized the sound of the name. Mai thought, but couldn't bring to mind the image of the person. "Ahh, its okay. You'll see her in a minute or two. I'll be staying to hear what she has to say, but other than that, I won't be able to be of any more help. I'm leaving today. I'll be back next monday."

Mai looked to Naru's office's door. "Maybe you should tell him to expect someone. It might be nice for him to know that we have a potential client coming."

Ayako sighed. "Gosh I don't think it matters that much does it? Anyway. From what it sounds like, people who stay at this place wander off into the woods, and don't get found for few days no matter how carefully the people look. But I'm not to positive about the details, so You're going to have to wait for Komaya to get here."

Mai nodded a bit, and went back to the kitchen, where she made sure there would be enough tea for at least her, Lin, Ayako, Naru, and the guest. When she picked up the pot, she debated. _It would be close..._ Mai sighed, poured it out, and started some more water. Ayako started to drink her tea.

Another knock on the door brought Ayako and Mai's attention away from their tea. Mai went to open it. Outside the door stood a woman probably around Ayako's age. "Hello? Is this the SPR office?"

Mai pointed to the plaque on the door. "Yep! Come on in! Can I get you a cup of tea? Or something to eat? Or..." Mai left it open for anything the guest might want.

"Just a cup of tea, thank you..." The guest said, searching for a name.

"Taniyama Mai." Mai said, and stepped out of the way.

The woman nodded. "I remember you. You were the girl who got a broken leg!" She looked past Mai, to the couch where Ayako was drinking tea. "And you were her guest. Its good to see you walking fine." She said to Mai. "I'm Komaya Ako."

Mai was surprised. "You mean you remember me? Really? Thats a surprise. You must see so many patients every day! How did you..."

"I guess I just do. I don't have great memory, but some people are just easy to remember." She looked to Ayako. "Plus I heard about SPR from Matsuzaki-san."

Mai nodded, and went to get Naru. She knocked on his door, while Ako sat down. "Naru, we have a potential client here. Please come out." She went back to the kitchen, and checked the water. It was hot, so she set about preparing the tea. Naru came out of his office.

Ayako looked over. "Naru, this is Komaya Ako-san. She is here because she thinks she has a case that will interest you."

Naru looked at Ako, and then knocked on Lin's office door. He then sat down on the couch beside Ayako, across from Ako. "All right then. Once my other assistants are ready..." Lin came out of the office, and Mai came into the room with the tea. She set a cup in front of each person. She also took back Ayako's old cup, which was now empty.

Naru looked at Ako. "Thank-you. Now if you will."

Ako nodded. "I own a piece of property in the middle of no where, by a small lake. My lodge, I call it. Its the only building on the lake, so its very secluded. Although, I do lend it out." She paused here to take a sip of her tea.

"This is good!" She said to Mai. Naru nearly sighed. "Anyway. The last few times I've lent it to friends, one of the people staying there has gone missing. The other people staying there wake up in the morning and someone is gone. They just disappear. Of course, everyone looks though the surrounding forest area. However, no one is ever found for a few days afterwards." She stopped here to make sure all the information got taken down.

"No matter how hard they look, they just can't find anyone right away. I know you must be thinking that they just got lost. But when we find them, they look like they have been in major accidents, with bruises and lots of small cuts. And the amount of time that passes has been increasing. The last one was missing for a week until we found her. It was just a little girl. We found her on top of a huge pile of rocks. There was no way to climb up, so we had to carry a _ladder_ through the forest to get to her. She was so sick... Luckily I was able to get her to a hospital."

"Why didn't you call an ambulance, or for air assistance?" Naru asked.

Ako frowned. "I did say that it was in the middle of nowhere didn't I? It would take a lot longer for emergency crews to make it, and I really didn't want them mushing all the wild flowers with a helicopter or something. Plus, theres no phone service at all out there." She drank some more of her tea.

"Honestly I don't really believe in spirits, or curses or stuff like that. But something is seriously wrong. And I remember Matsuzaki-san telling me about your work when Taniyama-san was in the hospital."

Naru looked to Ayako, who was listening carefully. "Well then. Is that all?" Ako nodded. "All right then I will take this case. But I want detailed instructions on how to find the place. As you said, it is in the middle of no where. We should be able to work out all the details in three days." Naru looked to Lin.

Lin clicked a few things on his laptop. "Can you give me the instructions to the house?" Lin asked. Ako nodded and started rattling off street names, and directions to turn.

Naru looked to Ayako. "Where did you meet her then?"

"Just like she said, at the hospital when Mai was injured." Ayako said, having more tea. She was quite calm. "Right. Well I have to go. So I'll see you all later then." She stood up, and put her cup in the kitchen before heading out.

Ako finished giving instructions to Lin, then looked to Mai. "Is there any way I can ask a few questions about your recovery?"

Mai nodded. Naru made himself busy at the table in the main room flipping through his book, while Lin went back to his office.

"All right. Does it hurt at all to walk? Were there any complications when you were taking the cast off?"

"No, and no. At least if there were, I didn't notice it." Mai said, thinking back.

Ako nodded a bit. "Oh, and do you remember the address of the last house you lived in with your last living relative? If I remember right, when you came out of the hospital you said you lived on your own now."

Mai looked at her strange. Naru paused to hear the answer to this, but didn't look up. "Why do you want to know?"

Ako looked at Mai. "It is important. And you don't have to say what the address was, just if you remember it."

Mai shook her head. "I don't see how this is relevant. But there's no way I'd forg..." Mai trailed off as she tried to remember. She drew a blank. Something wasn't right. "I... can't! Is that okay?"

Ako nodded. "That was to be expected. Keep thinking about it, I'm sure it will come back."

Mai looked at her watch. "Oh I need to get something for my diner before the stores get busy. Naru, I'll be back." Mai grabbed a coat, and was out the door before Naru or anyone else could say otherwise.

"Well, I guess I don't have to stay any longer either." She looked to Naru. "Please make sure she is careful. If you're going to my lodge, theres a lot of walking that will need to be done, over rough terrain." She said to him before leaving. With a bit of a bow, she left.

Naru stood up and went back to his own office.

* * *

Mai came back to the office the next day after school. They were going to go out to Ako's 'lodge' on Wednesday. It was Tuesday. Mai wondered whether it was safe to go some place with a ghost if there was no phone service. Plus, if it was so secluded, they would have to probably spread out quite a bit. Meaning everyone would need their own microphone set up on their person.

Another problem would be powering all the equipment. And what if they needed to contact anybody else? Like Yasuhara? Or Madoka?

The SPR office was now in her sight. Mai picked up her pace, and made her way to the door. As she was about to go in, she wondered about Ako again. Why had she asked about her old house? Mai shrugged, and opened the door in front of her.

Nobody was in the main area, so she set her bag down on the table, and sat on the couch wondering how they were going to deal with the things she thought of. Naru would probably have also thought of many other problems that could arise. After all, he was the boss. And he would without a doubt point out things that a 'stupid' assistant would miss.

Mai frowned. She hadn't announced her presence like she normally did, so she had some time to herself without the bother of making tea. Although, what if she were to get that dealt with right away? Then surprise Naru?

Oh yeah right. Like she could surprise him.

Mai stood up, and went to the kitchen. "Good afternoon Naru, Lin." She said.

After a few moments of silence, Mai started to feel as if she really was alone. She started slowly making her way towards Naru's door. She debated whether or not open it. If he was there, it would be awkward to explain why she did that, but she really wanted to know if somebody else was in the office.

"Mai. Make me some tea." Naru's voice came from within the office, just as Mai was about to open it. She froze for a moment, like an animal sensing danger, then sighed.

"yeah yeah, okay." She wandered into the kitchen, and sighed with a stretch. Thats when she noticed Naru's coat by the door. She sighed at herself for not realizing that it was there earlier.

Once she finished preparing the tea, the rest of the regular SPR team had assembled outside (less Ayako), waiting for whatever information they were going to get.

Mai knocked on his door. "Hey Naru, every one is here you know. Are you going to come out?" There was no response, so Mai thought for a moment. "Your tea is out here for when you are ready to talk to us."

Mai carried his tea to the table, and set it down in front of his place. Everyone else was silent.

Naru made his way out of his office, and sat down by his tea cup. After a few moments, he pulled out a piece of paper. "From what we heard yesterday, We will be a bit limited as to a few things. One of which will be power. In order to run the cameras and monitors, we are going to need a generator of some sort. That has been dealt with.

"Also, we need extension cords for the cameras. Many more and much longer than we have now. I have obtained a few, but I need you to bring any you have around.

"We will be working in a much larger environment than before, so will will also need a microphone with a large range capability, and wireless activation, for each person. They have been purchased, but I took the money for them from the amount you will be paid.

"And while there will be three proper beds, there will be minimal space for the others to sleep, so I must ask that the smallest people, Mai and Hara-san, sleep on the ground. Everyone will be in the base area. Its the largest room.

Naru looked to see the reactions. Mai was confused. Sure, maybe she hadn't thought of all those things, but what about the lack of phone service? Did Naru miss that? She wasn't too upset about sleeping on the floor, although Masako certainly was.

"All right then. Thats all that is really..."

Mai cut him off. "What about communication with people who _aren't_ at the lodge?" Mai asked. "Didn't Komaya-san say that there was no cellphone service out there?"

Naru paused. "I didn't hear that."

Mai huffed. "Oh come on! She said that she didn't call an for assistance that one time because she didn't want a helicopter to land there. Also, she said, _there was no phone service_. She didn't because _couldn't _call." She felt a little proud that she pointed that out.

Takigawa thought. "Wow! Naru you did miss that?" Mai felt as if she had won. She was about to cheer when Naru spoke again.

"Since you think think it's a problem, you can find a solution." Mai glared, and Masako brought her hand to her mouth (But anyone could see she was snickering a little).

Mai grumbled a bit. "If theres nothing else then. Mai, I hope you will have something ready. Tomorrow, be here at 6 in the morning. It will be quite a long trip to get there, so we need to leave right at 6:15."

Naru left. Mai started thinking. What could convey a message really far without a cellphone? A radio maybe, but would it go far enough?

Thats when she got an idea. Coloured flares maybe? They could have different colours mean different things! Like a white one could mean everything is okay, a red could mean someone is injured severely and requires assistance, a green one could mean we need their assistance right at the lodge! And they could be lit off at a very specific time.

Takigawa watched as Mai thought. "All right. Well I'm going to go get packed."

Mai turned. "Hey wait. What time did Naru say to show up? I seem to have missed it."

Masako sighed. "you are such a burden to the rest of this team sometimes..." She looked to the door and started heading, but turned back with a bit of a smile. "6 in the morning. I guess I'll see you then." She waved a bit, then left. Takigawa also did.

Mai waved a little back to her friends. Even if Masako acted very superior, she was nice sometimes.

Mai wondered how she would ever be able to get up on time. If she were to get up in the morning at 5, she might have time for a shower. But then she'd have to go home early, so she could pack tonight. And leaving early was not a good idea. But she still had to worry about what Naru thought of her idea.

She walked over to Naru's door. An idea presented itself in her mind. What if she were to go home, pack then come back and spend the night at the office? She would have a shower when she went home to pack, and then there would be no way for her to hold up the team!

With a new resolve, she knocked on the door. No voice came from it, but she opened it anyway. "Hey Naru, I have an idea!"

He looked up from his desk. "What if we were to use coloured flares? We could send them off at a certain time! A white one could mean no problems, a green could mean we require their assistance at the lodge, and a red one could mean someone is really hurt." She felt really proud of the idea.

Naru thought about it, then nodded. "All right. I'll have Lin go look for the equipment to do that." Mai was really surprised at his lack of reaction to the fact that she picked something out that nobody he hadn't noticed.

But then again, he didn't really react to much of anything.

Naru walked out of the room. Mai figured it was to talk to Lin. She heard the door open to the other room. For some reason she just stood there, waiting.

When Naru reentered his office, Mai heard the door to the outside open and close. "Yes?" he asked.

Mai herself wondered why she was standing around. Then she remembered.

"Oh. And I think that it may a bit hard for me to make sure that I get up early enough tomorrow morning." She was about to put forward her idea, but Naru had obviously thought she had no solution to the problem.

"If you're late we're not waiting at all." Mai nodded a bit.

"Yeah. Thats why..." she swallowed. "I was wondering if I could spend the night on the couch here at the office."

Mai waited for a rejection, or just anything. Which apparently wasn't coming. It was silent for quite a bit before Mai decided to say something again. "I would go home now, and get cleaned up as well as pack up, then I'd come back, that way in the morning I'd be already here, and ready to go. I wouldn't have to run over here or anything."

Naru actually seemed to be considering it. "Fine. Have a pot of tea ready for when everyone else gets there." Mai nodded a bit, then retreated to the door.

"Then I'll go home now, and come back with everything I need." Mai grabbed her bag before leaving, but then turned to the kitchen.

Before she left, she made a pot of tea. She knocked on Naru's door. "If you want some, I just made a pot of tea. I'm going now! Bye!" She said, knowing not to expect an answer.

She got exactly what she was expecting. Silence filled the building, so she left. But she was happy that she had figured out the solution to two problems. Besides, Mai wondered how long Naru worked after she left in the first place. She would have the opportunity to find out now too.

_This case _thought Mai_ might be very interesting. Especially after such a long break._


	2. Trees 2

So yeah! I'm glad people liked the first chapter. Oh.. and yeah.. so heres the second chapter!

Yeah oh well! Not much to do with my other story from here on out, so yeah.. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

2- 

Mai checked her watch. She had been gone an hour an a half. After one last look through her bag, she left her apartment and closed the door behind her, locking it.

After one last glance at her belongings she pocketed the key and started towards the office. She had everything she needed. She even brought a few extension cords she found lying around. And one from a neighbour. That was responsible! She was thinking of everyone else!

Her final haul was quite big. After all, she had clothes and shoes, and stuff for sleeping, the cords, a pillow (Okay, actually two), a mirror, some water bottles and a toothbrush (Because she figured if there was no power, there would be no running water either). And she was carrying it all the way to the office.

Behind her, the person who owned the building called for her attention. "Going somewhere for a bit?"

Mai smiled back. "Yeah. Its a work thing."

"Surely you're not planning on walking? Hey come on, I'll take you if you hold on just a minute." He walked down the hallway he had come from, not leaving Mai the opportunity to say no.

Mai sighed, and waited. Not that she was acctually upset about not having to walk. it was more that she didn't want to impose.

* * *

Once he had dropped Mai off at the SPR offices, the person who owned the building she lived in waved and drove off. Mai was quite happy to not have to walk. After all, her bag was heavy. 

She hauled her stuff up the stairs to the door that had _SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research _written on it. She opened it, and stepped into the office.

"I'm back!" Mai said. She put her bag on the couch, then walked into the kitchen. The tea she had made before leaving was gone. Mai set about another pot, and yawned. It wasn't that late, but she was a bit tired.

After fixing the tea, she looked over to Naru's office. Wouldn't he have normally said something by now? At least asked to make sure she would make some tea? _Whatever. Not my problem._ Mai looked out the window. The sunlight was not exactly bright anymore.

In fact, it was almost evening. And if she was going to be getting up early, she should probably go to sleep early. Mai grabbed her pillow, PJs, toothbrush, and toothpaste. She didn't bother with a blanket or anything else, because she'd just have to pack it again in the morning. Plus it was always a pretty good temperature in the building all day. After getting changed, and cleaning her teeth, she knocked on Naru's office door.

"Naru, I'm just going to sleep on the couch okay?" She didn't bother to open the door. "There's a fresh pot of tea for before you go." No response. Mai checked the door. His jacket was still there. She was not talking to a only door. Although it was easier to tell what the door was thinking.

It was thinking _'Hah! I'm blocking your view! The door prevails again!!!'_

Mai felt like kicking it. Funny that Naru's offices' door was just as rude as he himself. But why was it fair that the door always win too?

Mai shook her head. She was upset at a door. She was upset at a door _for being a door._ That in itself was bad. Mai resolved to maybe get some sort of help at some point if she _ever_ thought of doors like that again.

She walked back to the closer couch, and laid back on her pillow. With yet another yawn, she closed her eyes.

* * *

About 20 minutes after Mai had announced that she had made some, Naru opened the his offices' door (which wasn't made of win anymore, now that it had been betrayed by the door knob) and went to the kitchen for the aforesaid tea. It was still a decent temperature, so he poured a cup and sat on the couch opposite Mai. 

What was she thinking without a blanket? Even if it was warm during the day, the heaters were off during the night, and one of the windows was jammed at a sligtly open position. Naru looked around a bit. A blanket would not be the sort of thing just lying around the SPR office. A chilly breeze made it's way through the room, and Mai shivered a bit.

Mai probably had a blanket of some sort in her bag, but that would involve going through her stuff. Manual labour. That was not something Naru felt like doing. Plus if he was going through her stuff and Mai woke up, she would not be pleased. And that apparently made a difference. Naru looked around, for some method to stop the shivering. His eyes landed on his own coat.

While it would mean forfeiting his coat, he was being driven home. Lin wouldn't mind the heat on. He grabbed the jacket and laid it over the sleeping assistant.

* * *

Mai was dreaming. It was a bit of an odd dream. There was a field, and a bit of a hill up one way. On either side of her were trees. She looked up the hill towards the sky. Darkness gave it a midnight sort of feel. There was also cold breeze that made her shiver. Mai couldn't remember feeling cold in a dream before. 

The wind picked up a bit and became like ice. But after a few moments it stopped. She could feel the wind, just not the cold. Maybe she was numb already?

There was a small girl in front of her. It was almost like she had just appeared. "Come on!" her voice came softly. She was running away. Mai began to follow up the incline. It soon leveled off.

There was a bit of a forest. At first there were only really small trees, planted recently. But there was also a stack of tires. Just beyond the stack of tires, the trees got taller. There was a bit of a rough path that was only there because many a person had walked the same way. A few trees blocked the path, but they were just small trunks that had fallen over, so Mai stepped over them. There was sudden deep slope. Mai just barely caught the images of the girl ahead as she looked for some footholds to get to the bottom of the slope..

Mai carefully stepped from one side of the path to the other using anything that slightly stuck out of the ground as a foothold. At the bottom, there were fewer trees, but many tall shrubs and bushes. The girl laughed a bit. It sounded like she was really enjoying herself. "Not many people get to come here! You're really lucky okay?" She turned to Mai again. The shrubs got shorter. Mai could see a bit of a clearing now.

It was beautiful. There was a clear pond, as dark as the surroundings. The surrounding trees not only purified the air, but they isolated the area, and blocked outside sounds. The reflection of the moon in the water was perfect, because not a bit of wind remained in this place. The girl turned and smiled a sincere smile. Mai couldn't help but walk forward quietly.

"I always wanted to show you this place. Its our place now okay?" The girl really was quite young. "Okay then Shouta? If you're gonna live here too, remember that if anything happens you can meet me here, when the moon is visible in the waters."

Mai nodded, then walked towards the edge. The air was even colder right at the edge. She smiled, looked to the girl. She was very beautiful standing there, her face slightly illuminated by the moon's reflection. The girl closed her eyes. "Promise me." She whispered. Mai barely heard it.

* * *

Mai woke up at about 5:30 in the morning. When she did, she felt as if she had really been to the pond she had seen. The image was vivid in her mind. She swore she felt that ground beneath her feet just moments before. 

She wiped her eyes, and yawned pushing down her blanket. Standing up she stretched her back a bit. The couch was a bit uncomfortable to sleep on, even if she could sit there all day while at work. After stretching a bit more she--

Wait. She didn't have a blanket when she went to sleep. Mai turned and looked to the black pile near the end of the couch. That was... _Naru's coat?_ Mai's cheeks turned a bit red, and she picked up the discarded 'blanket', hanging it back up where she remembered it. Hopefully, she hadn't gotten it herself, cold and barely awake in the middle of the night.

She yawned, and wiper her eyes again. She turned her eyes on the kitchen, hoping there was some manner of breakfast food inside.

When she opened it, she was shocked to find nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe Naru didn't want things to be left in the fridge during cases. Considering he didn't know how long they would be gone, the food might go bad, and that would mean a lot of work. Which Naru wouldn't do. So that would mean that _Mai _would have to clean out the fridge. Yet she never had needed to. Maybe he was really smart. Did he always think of everything?

Mai smiled a bit. _Nope._ She thought back to her semi-victory yesterday.

As she was pleased with herself, she heard a knock on the door. Opening it, Takigawa was there with a large suitcase and a brown paper bag. "Mai! I suppose you haven't had breakfast have you?"

Mai let him in, but frowned. "How did you know I was staying here last night? And that there would be no food?"

"what no good morning?" Mai sighed. "Okay! It was just a hunch. You seem to have enough fun getting here on time in a normal schedule." _Totally not the fact that someone called me last night to make sure that I knew that there was no food in the fridge and that you were staying the night. Nope, I just have good intuition._

Mai shrugged. "Whatever you say. Anyway. What do you have in there?"

* * *

At 10 to 6:00, everyone had assembled, and they were ready to go slightly ahead of schedule for once. "All right then" Takigawa said. "John and Mai are with me." 

Masako nodded. "I agree. That will work."

Naru nodded, and exited the building. Takigawa grabbed his keys, and was followed by John and Mai when he left. Masako followed them, and Lin left last to make sure that all the lights and power were off. With a laptop in one hand, he exited the building, hoping that the weather would allow him to use his laptop outside, considering that would probably be where most of the work would be. Although what concerned him most was the lack of communication with the outer world.

Given, Mai had come up with a good idea. Every night at 9 they would set off one of the coloured flares, and that would signify their situation. He also picked up three blue ones, which would mean they had run out of one colour of flare. He would shoot it off right after shooting off the last of the colour they had used up. After all, who knew how long they would be there? They were lacking the ability to research anything. They were in the middle of nowhere. They didn't have much going for them.

* * *

In the vehicle, Mai yawned and leaned against her pillow. It was about 6:30. She looked out the window and watched the passing scenery. The trees were tall, the road was dusty, and the vehicle bumped with each passing moment. 

The radio had just cut out, and everyone was still tired, so the vehicle was quiet. After a few minutes, Takigawa was sick of quiet.

"Come on! Does anybody have a song to sing? I swear that I'll listen without making fun of you!"

John laughed a bit. Mai sighed. "It's probably been silent the entire time in with Naru. Plus there's the tired factor. Meaning quiet is nice."

"You would be one to know about the 'tired factor'. Anyway. More importantly, on a road like this if I fall asleep, you guys could all be in trouble." Takigawa yawned. "I'm drifting off..."

Mai grumbled a bit and glared. "Well I don't have an MP3 player to lend you, and I'm _not _singing. So unless you convince John, the only way for you to make sure that you stay awake would be me kicking the back of your seat. Frequently."

Takigawa sighed. "I guess you won't then John?"

"Sorry Takigawa-san."

Mai kicked his seat. "Oh just never mind! We still have at least an hour to go, and I can't let Lin out of my sight or we'll be lost." Takigawa said with an over exaggerated sigh.

* * *

At about 7:15, Takigawa watched Lin turn off the main road on to a bumpier side road. Lin slowed down quite a bit in order to prevent the equipment from bumping around as much, so Takigawa stopped and let them get ahead a bit.. 

"All right you guys! Lets go for it!" he said, and started down the road. From the way he said it Mai braced for the worst, but he didn't even have to be going more than 10 kph and it was already awful. Happy to have braced, she closed her eyes.

After a good 10 minutes of going through the bush, Takigawa sighed. "I wonder if that Komaya person was just putting us on when she told us where to find her 'lodge'. I mean, it can't be much of a lodge this far out of anything."

They started heading down a steep part of the trail. Just before going over the edge Mai caught sight of a building. Then her head snapped an odd direction, and in order to prevent herself from getting hurt, she crouched down and put her hands around the back of her knees.

She didn't look up again until the vehicle came to a full stop. Once it did, she looked up in time to see Takigawa stretch his arms out. "I think I did a pretty good job!" He said and opened his door. John was already outside of the vehicle. Naru's vehicle had also been evacuated. Mai opened her door, and stepped outside as well, taking in her surroundings.

The 'lodge' seemed to be just like a small house. It was made out of only wood though, so it was painted. It seemed to be a quite recent building, because some of the extra materials that were not needed for building the house were lined up by a fire pit, as material to burn.

The fire pit was just a bit of a walk from the house. There was a gentle downward slope leading first to it, then to a line of relatively tall shrubs. Just in front of some of the shrubs were some odd sticks shoved into the ground, that looked a little like eagles in flight at the very top. Or like antlers on an animal.

Just past the shrubs Mai could see the lake. It wasn't that big compared to most lakes, but it wasn't_ really_ small. The beach, that was just barely visible in a few places where the bushes were thin, was very rocky and not suitable for laying around. And the water wasn't good for swimming. It was weedy and a bit too murky for Mai's likes. But that was okay because they were here to work, not to lounge. There was a dock too, but it was barely 2 meters long, and about half a meter wide.

The land was covered in grass between the house and the line of shrubs, but there were groups of wild flowers everywhere too. They reached up to about Mai's knees, and were any number of colours. On either side of the house was a thick forest. The grounds there were covered in all green and brown matter, besides a path that Mai could clearly see. It was probably made by Ako by clearing out any fallen trees, and walking over it a lot. The forest covered her view, so she couldn't see too far, but it was definitely a beautiful place.

Ako Komaya stepped out of the building that they had stopped in front of. "I didn't expect you guys to be here so soon! Good thing I got everything you said ready yesterday. Just like you asked, I got the guest room's beds moved to one side of the room. The rest is available for whatever you want to be in there."

Mai looked around again. Ako had a nice place. Besides the lack of electricity. And lack of phone. And lack of running water. And the lack of everything else that Mai was accustomed to being around.

With a sigh, she headed over to the door.

Naru opened the back of his vehicle. "Mai. Start unloading. Everyone else, begin to scout out the immediate surroundings. Don't go into the forest."

Naru started off towards the place where the lake met the line of shrub. John started off in the direction they had driven from, Takigawa circled to the other side of the house, and Masako wandered to the fire pit. Mai glared at them, getting the easier job. Lin however, stayed with Mai and began unloading as well.

Mai grabbed one of the sets of shelves, and headed into the door that Ako was holding open for her and Lin. Inside, Mai was led to a room. It was large and relatively empty, but there were two normal beds on one wall, and one bunk style bed on the opposite side. There was also a couch beside the bunk bed.

Mai also noticed that there was a track on the ground right beside the two single bed. She traced it to see a movable wall. Mai figured that would be where Naru and Lin would sleep. Then they would close the divider to get their own room.

Mai started setting up the shelves, and Lin put down the cabled he had been holding. He went to get more equipment while Mai continued to work out what went where with the shelves.

With a smile, she managed to get the shelves together, and she stepped back to see her work. It was done, so she picked up the second set of shelves that had been brought in by Lin and set about them.

When she had finished that, Naru and the rest were back in the building, and Takigawa and John were now helping with the heavy lifting.

Naru was talking to Ako, but Mai couldn't hear over the sounds of putting down equipment and moving about.

But they were soon finished, so Mai sat down on the couch as everyone else stood around and waited for Naru to finish.

"Takigawa-san, I want you to start setting up cameras in the building. Make sure every persons bed including Komaya-san's is covered, as well as any exits, including windows that can be smashed. Brown-san, I want you to link the monitors and let Takigawa-san know when they are in the right position. Hara-san, you will continue to scout out the grounds. Mai, I want you to get the new headsets functioning, and give one to Hara-san before she leaves. Komaya-san, I would like to speak to you some more." There were nods, and Mai started towards a bag on the ground.

She quickly opened one of the packages, then put in the batteries. She handed it to Masako who quietly thanked her before setting out. Mai set up her own, and turned it on. "Masako, can you hear me?"

"Yes. It works well."

Mai looked at the headset. It was an ear piece just like an ear bud with a small bendable microphone protruding towards her mouth. There was also a little dial that changed what channel you were on.

Mai quickly set up the remaining headsets, and handed them out.

Mai sighed and watched Takigawa wander around with a camera, and John hooking up monitors.

_Day 1 has just begun. I wonder what will happen today._

_But even more so, _

_I wonder what will happen tonight._


	3. Trees 3

I'm so sooory. Took a bit longer than intended, but of course school work comes first. So yeah. I really should have done some more sooner, but things came up, and I will leave it at that... (Darn you good friends, dragging me out and having a good time watching anime... with snacks and good conversation!!! SHAME ON YOU!!!)

That and maps. Lots and lots of maps. I now hate the world, especially the 6 biggest countries. And don't get me started on 'The Alps'

Seriously

And then I got sick! Not my best week.

Oh! ANd I update my profile nearly every day with info on how far I am, and when I plan to update next. The last day it was updated is at teh top, and at the bottom is my comments.

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

3- 

Mai looked around. Everyone seemed to be doing something, except herself. _Well, it's not like I haven't done anything. I just already finished._

Then it came to mind that there _was_ no running water, just as she had originally expected. And while there was a stove, it was the wood burning variety. Naturally they had the makings for tea with them from the office, so Mai figured there would be a point where she would have to make some. After all, nobody else was ever asked. Mai absentmindedly wondered what Naru would have her do all the time if she didn't know how to make tea.

But there was no concern, because she did know how. At least, if she didn't she wouldn't be asked to make it all the time right?

Ako wandered into the room to look at the set up. Lin and Takigawa had moved the generator that Naru had acquired, so it was making a humming sound to signify that it was indeed on. There were also some solar panels that helped run the equipment. They were a last minute add on.

And there was some electricity in the 4 room building. Ako had a special radio and a few lights. The radio was designed to pick up on very weak radio signals. The set up of the electricity in the lodge was a bit odd in the first place though, because it was from about 10 powerful batteries that were hooked up to a circuit. But there wasn't much power in them anymore, so only one light or the radio could be on at once.

Mai walked over to Ako in time to see Naru pass by the both of them to talk to Lin about something. "Is there any way I can avoid using a wood burning stove should I, for example, need to make tea?"

Mai spoke quietly, hoping not to attract attention from everyone else. Ako looked at her a bit weird. "Why would you have to make tea? You don't have to worry about that sort of thing! I'm the host here, am I wrong?"

"Well, _I _am going to be the one asked to get tea. After all, thats part of my job. I'm not really a medium, so I just do the odd jobs and monitoring and data entry and yeah... that sort of stuff." Mai shrugged. "But anyway! I don't want to bother you with stuff like getting the tea. You probably have enough on your mind with all the disappearances."

Ako frowned a bit. " I guess it makes sense, although I do feel bad about it..." Mai followed Ako into the kitchen. Because last time Mai had just walked through to the next room, she took her time to look around a bit this time.

There was an old fashioned lantern on a hook beside a light bulb on a wooden beam about 7 centimeters from the ceiling. The counters were gray and were littered with flats and small boxes of non-perishables lined up along the wall in no particular order. The cupboards were wood with peeling, white layers. It looked like someone hadn't bothered with primer when they painted them. The floor was a plain blue-ish white patterned linoleum that was probaby supposed to look like tiles. The walls were flat two-by-fours that were layered in a pleasing way. They weren't painted, but they were very dark in colour. In the room was a fridge. mai wondered how it worked, but apparently it did. There was also a wood burning heater for the lodge, and a large pile of wood.

Ako went to the first cupboard and pulled out a small little contraption. It had 2 parts, a tray raised off the ground and a small round thing with a knob sticking out parallel to the counter. "Its like a miniature stove. You just turn this knob, then light a match, and place what you want heated on this tray. It has an attachment for toasting bread, and a kettle that nicely fits for tea and coffee, and a little pan too. Neat eh? Much better to use when I'm the only one here."

Mai smiled. "Can you just leave this out on the counter then for when I am called to duty?"

Ako sighed dramatically. "I _guess_. But what will you do for me?"

"I'll make you tea?"

**

* * *

**

By about 12:00, Mai had managed to do nothing but decide where she was going to sleep, and find a nice place that was out of the way to put all of her stuff.

Considering there was nothing to do yet, what was she supposed to do? Generally isn't this the time that something comes to light, and makes everything more interesting?

Lunch was in the kitchen. It wasn't really anything that great to eat, but there was something about that place that was neat to just be there. After all, it isn't often that you get a chance to go somewhere so completely cut off from the world that communication is nearly impossible with the rest of the world.

It was a nice experience.

Naru didn't say much. Nobody did. There wasn't really anything to say, especially since nothing had happened. Not that anything would. After all, the only time anything had happened ever was at night. So why did Naru have them come so early in the morning?

Oh he probably had a reason. And Mai would probably never know.

So that was that.

After finishing eating Mai went back to the room they had everything set up in. There was a maze of extension cords all over the floor. They led to many places around the house. Mai began to wonder why Naru had wanted cameras facing everyone as they were sleeping. And the windows and doors?

Oh, right. People would get up on their own and disappear in the night. This was to see if they were doing it on their own, or if they were possessed or something. But shouldn't they have tried to get some outside to see where the person would go? After all, if one of the SPR members should end up missing, how would they search?

Mai sighed and looked around. By her bag was her microphone. All of the new ones that Naru had bought were the same. What if she put it down and someone else grabbed it?

Mai turned to her bag, and pulled a little blue ribbon off one of the handles. Its what she used to make sure that it was hers. Now it would serve the same purpose for her microphone. She wound it around the bendable part, and tied it off.

Happy with the result, she put it back on. Her short hair mostly covered it, so nobody would notice while she was wearing it.

Naru called for everyone to return to the kitchen, meaning only Mai because she was the only one who had left yet.

* * *

Even though the rest of the day particularly uneventful, Naru managed to keep everyone doing something. Mai was continually sent on random tasks while everyone else more or less patrolled an area, looking for something. Mai wasn't quite sure why Naru sent them all milling around outside. And once 21:00 came around, Lin set off one yellow flare. _Everything is good_. Mai really hoped that Yasuhara could see it. So he would know where to look when something bad happened. 

Quite a bit after dinner, at about 22:00, Ako grabbed the lantern that had been hanging from the hook in the kitchen. "All right. Now that you have finished all that stuff, it might be a good idea to walk the trails. I hoped you would have had a chance to do so before its night, but its so much nicer at night in the first place."

Hiking! That would be fun! Mai grabbed a small flashlight. "I'm in!"

"Me too!" Takigawa said, grabbing a large flashlight, nearly 5 times the size and 10 times the strength of Mai's.

Naru looked over. "This isn't a field trip. We have here to work. We don't have time to go through the trails. Especially with the dangers of night."

Ako looked over, trying to keep the pout she would have given any normal guest to herself and trying not to shout 'chicken'. "With all due respect Shibuya-san, wouldn't it be better to not only recreate the conditions in which others have disappeared? After all, everyone who comes here goes on a walk in the forest. Wouldn't that give you an idea of what it takes to maneuver in the dark? Especially without any sort of light?"

Maybe it was a good enough idea. Mai hoped he would let them go. "Mai, Brown-san and myself will go. Lin, Hara-san, and Takigawa-san you stay here and make a fire or something."

Masako looked over a bit, and sighed. How on earth did Mai manage to make him say her name? "We will await your return." She said with a bit of a bow. John took Takigawa's flashlight.

"Wait! Why can't I go! I want to go! John you stay here." He said grabbing John's shoulder.

Because Mai was in front of Naru, she didn't get to see the look he threw to Takigawa, but whatever it was, Takigawa was quiet. "Bye!" Mai called back cheerfully missing out completely.

When Ako opened the door, a cool breeze blew in, and Mai shivered a bit. Maybe she should have grabbed a jacket, or a pair of pants or something...

Too late now. Ako turned on the lantern. The fire was small, but it was beautiful how it flickered, and cast a soft glow on the trees. Mai had never seen a real fire lantern before.

When they set out on the path that Mai had noticed earlier, Mai followed behind Ako. Naru was behind her, and John had the large flashlight bringing up the rear. Mai could see because of the lantern, but there was not enough light remaining for Naru.

Mai wanted to look up and appreciate the glow of the lantern on the trees, but her footing was not perfect and she stumbled enough staring at the ground underneath her feet. And she was glad that she had the flashlight, because there were a few points where shadows from uneven ground made it so she couldn't see enough to step with just the lantern.

It was quite enjoyable to be walking. Mai even forgot that she was cold, partially because she lost feeling everywhere.

After they had been going for at least twenty minutes in near silence, They came to a place where there was lots of rusted, burnt metal debris.

"There was a fire here. Used to be a fisher living here. Unfortunately, he and his grandson died in a fire. I get a sad feeling whenever I come by here. In a tribute to those people, I have some wind chimes..." Ako pointed a little bit further down the path. John shone the flashlight down there, since the lantern's light was not focused enough to show anything.

There was a branch that leaned over really far. Attached to it was a bunch of metal debris hanging off the ground. It was a large mass at least 1 and a half times Mai's height.

"Wind chimes?" Asked John.

Ako shrugged. "When theres enough wind they will occasionally make noise..." they started walking. "But generally, I do this sort of thing" She walked up to it, and kicked it really hard.

There was a large bang as the metal reacted with her kick, then lots of scraping as it swung a bit. Mai was more than slightly surprised at Ako's strength. Mai and John covered their ears. Even Naru flinched at the sound.

"That was fun. Lets continue now. Theres a really pretty place to sit and look at the moon on the lake, but I think we should go this way!" She pointed at a path that was just slightly different direction going back the same way as the one they had been on before.

After going for a while longer, they started climbing a bit up a hill. "These are the rocks we found the child on the other time. Poor thing. Would have died if I had gotten her to the hospital even 10 minutes later." Mai looked up at the pile of rocks. It was huge. And someone would have to have major skills to be able to scale it completely unequipped. Some young kids may be really good at climbing, but the only foot or hand holds Mai could see were too far apart for _her_ let alone a _child_.

They had to climb under one rock to be able to continue along the path. It was more of a boulder really. On the other side, there was a fallen tree. It wasn't that high, but it wasn't that low. "Well, under or over. Which ever one you feel like."

Ako climbed over, after setting the lantern on the other side.

Mai didn't want to go under either (Her back was sore from going under the boulder), so she attempted to jump over. After about one moment in the air she knew she hadn't quite gotten far enough with the jump, and fell to the ground underneath with a loud (THUMP).

Mai groaned. She reached one hand up, looking for a hand to help her up, with her eyes closed. Someone's hand found hers. It was weird how warm it was. She stood up and opened her eyes, and immediately hoped it was dark enough for her blush not to be seen.

"Mai. Why didn't you say that you were so cold?" Naru's voice wasn't helping her blush. Thats when she began to feel the cold again. With a bit of a shiver she shook her head.

"N-No! I'm n-not cold-d!" But her shivering jaw gave her away. Mai realized she hadn't said anything since being outside.

She hurried to the other side of the log (underneath this time), where Ako grabbed her hand. "You should have said something before we left! Well, it wont be much longer. Are you going to be okay?"

Mai nodded. "A-Although I should-d ask-k y-you. You're th-the one who w-works at-t a hosp-pital."

"As a receptionist. Come on, lets hurry."

If Mai hadn't known better, she would have sworn Naru was now following her a little bit closer than before. She could feel a bit more of a shadow on her back.

* * *

When they made it out of the forest, there was a fire at the fire pit, and 3 figures crowded around it. Even Lin appeared to be at the fire. 

When Mai got near it only then did she realize just how cold she was. Even sitting slightly near it felt way too hot for her, way too fast. So Mai sat a bit away from it, and edged in when she felt like she could.

Ako looked at all of them. "I'm going to start a fire inside, in the wood burning heater. If I don't it'll be this cold inside. Then I'll go to bed. So you guys can talk about stuff now then.

From her position a bit away from the fire, Mai's gaze was concealed in the shadows. Naturally, she looked over to Naru, who sat on the ground. The fire had by now made the grass that should have been a bit dewy dry. They were talking. Mai wasn't listening. She looked at him, and how the flaring fire shadows made him look almost sad.

What would he be sad about? Come to think of it, everyone seemed a little bit sad. What did they know that she didn't? Or maybe it was just the shadows of the fire. Maybe even she looked sad, the light barely dancing in her eyes.

Or maybe it was the night.

"Nobody will stay up to monitor cameras. Everyone has been up late enough. Tomorrow starts at 7 in the morning. So everyone rest up until then. I want to walk the trails again tomorrow during the day. Anyone can go to sleep when they want now. Oh, but keep your headset with you at all times. Even while you sleep."

Masako nodded. "Then I will go now. I'm going to be on the couch. Good night." She walked up to the building. Mai inched a bit closer to the fire, and grumbled for not taking the couch earlier. She would be the only one on the floor.

I wasn't much longer until everyone had left, except her and Naru. By then, Mai was right at the fire, and had warmed up considerably even if all that was left was the dying embers. She smiled a bit at them, and yawned. "Hey, Naru, why did you buy an entirely new set of microphones? Couldn't we have used the old ones as well, and just gotten 3 extra that we would have needed to have one for everyone?"

Naru looked at her. She couldn't really see his face, because the light from the remains of the fire were not bright enough. "These ones have a tracking system. If someone goes missing, we can use it to find out where they are." Naru was really on top of things. She had thought earlier that maybe he hadn't considered that an SPR member would go missing.

Mai nodded a bit. "I'm tired. I'm also going to sleep next to the wood burning heater, because I don't want to get too cold. Please don't trip on me." Mai added the last sentence in. She wasn't even sure why. Naru didn't say anything.

Mai stood up and walked back to the lodge.

Once inside, she noted that everyone had gone to sleep. Quietly going into the base room she pulled her stuff into the kitchen. The wood burning heater that Ako had started was in the kitchen, so she set up camp right in front of it. It wasn't too warm, but it was heated a bit by the fire.

Naru came in as she was about to start taking her shirt off. Luckily she had heard the door start to crack open a bit and immediately stopped her action. Naru looked to her for a second. Mai figured he could see right through her. The slight bit of light given off by the cracks in the heater were surely enough for her to be completely visible. Naru walked over to the camera that was monitoring the door near where Mai was now going to sleep. After a few moments, he moved the stand just a little to the left.

He went into the other room, and disappeared. Mai held her breath for a moment. The way Naru had moved the camera, there was no way he could change off camera if she were to stay in the room.

After waiting at least 10 minutes to make sure no one else was going to get up, Mai tiptoed to the camera and changed it's angle, taking careful note of where it had been before. She quickly changed into her Pjs. But once she was done, she couldn't remember quite where it had been.

She turned it back to where she thought it was. Once satisfied, she went back to her 'bed', and closed her eyes.


	4. Trees 4

Allo!

Well, I started right after I posted the last one, but I didn't intend for it to be done right away.. which means this update is a bit of a surprise. My cold got a bit better, but my throat got worse, so I can barely talk. The result? I write!

Disclaimer: It's in the first chapter

* * *

4- 

Mai was sleeping fine when she heard something. Because the heater burnt through all the wood that Ako had put on it, Mai was already almost awake anyway from the cold. Only the barest glow of light was resonating from it now.

Mai looked around, trying to make out her surroundings. It was still quite dark outside. Which meant she hadn't been asleep long. She looked at her watch. The faceplate was too dark to read.

Forgetting the sound that woke her up, she stretched and wiped her eyes a bit. She had forgotten to take off her microphone last night so there was an indent on her face where the microphone sat.

She was about to settle down again, when John walked into the kitchen. He walked right past Mai to the door without looking twice. Mai would have thought that he was just going out to look at the surroundings except that he didn't stop for shoes. "John?" She called as he closed the door behind him.

_John must be doing the exact same thing that the other guests did! _Mai got out of her bed, and slipped her shoes on. With one last glance at the room, she opened the door to follow John.

She watched John climb up the way that they had originally driven in from. Up the hill, past the vehicles. She ran to try and catch up but having just woken up, he was still ahead of her. After settling into a nice pace, she looked around. John had turned off the main path straight through a group of small trees. Mai looked a bit farther than where he was. There were some larger trees. John was heading right for them.

She stopped and looked at her surroundings, after all, she wouldhave to walk back at some point. Only when she saw a huge pile of tires did she realize she had been here before. This was just like her dream at the office. She started to follow John again, into the thick trees. But as soon as he got into them, he disappeared. She wasn't watching where she was stepping, and tripped on a rock. "ah!" she cried, hitting the ground forcefully. After standing up, there was no trace of John at all anymore.

"John!" Mai called after him. She dashed to the place he had disappeared, only to see that there was a sharp decline. _But in my dream there had been more of a path!_ Carefully stepping along, she saw John just ahead of her. But she only saw him briefly before she tripped a second time, down the rest of the hill.

Her outfit ripped a bit, and she got lots of scratches from the branches and rocks on the ground.

Mai stumbled a bit as she managed to stand up. There were now tall shrubs everywhere. How did John get through?

In a moment of decision, she threw herself through a slight gap between two bushes, to get to the other side. It was a bit of a risk,. because she couldn't see through, due to the dark and the leaves.Although it would seem that that where the path was, because she went right through. Mai caught her balance before she fell for a third time.

The shrub like plants were now much shorter. About the height of her knee. The area was so familiar. But the thing she noticed this time is that in that area the air was very pure. And cold. It was much colder here. But not a bad kind, it was refreshing. John stood at the edge of the pond, and stared at Mai.

"How did you find this place?" John asked. Although, it wasn't John. He was definitely possessed.

Mai looked around a bit, deciding what to say.

"This was my secret! I only shared it with him! Is he there? What happened to him?!"

John's voice was louder, and angry. It was certainly not something Mai had ever heard from the priest before.

"What's your name?" Mai asked, advancing a bit.

"Kiseki." John said. "Where is Shouta?"

_Kiseki eh?_

_Who is Shouta? Obviously she never told anyone else about the place. Maybe she is looking for him, but he hasn't died, so she needs to possess someone in order to talk to him. _Mai began to walk out to the edge of the pond.

"No! Don't come closer. Its not your place! Only I can be here when Shouta comes!" Kiseki said, pointing at Mai.

"Kiseki-chan, calm down." Mai said softly. Normally she was able to pacify a small child if they were upset, but this was a bit different. Besides, she was only assuming that this Kiseki really a child.

"If you come any closer I'll push you into the water!" Kiseki said, angrily. With John's voice the threat was much more effective than it would had been if it had come from a young child.

As Mai got a bit closer slowly, the ground seemed to be squishy. It was a peat moss pond. Which would mean that the edge of the water would be an immediate drop, at least 4 or so meters (approx 13.5 feet). And if she got pushed in, it would be _very _difficult to get out.

Mai closed in a bit more, risking the child's threat. "Do you know how you died?"

"Don't get any closer!"

Mai stopped, now worried. She put her hand to her ear, hoping that she could use her microphone to communicate with someone... anyone. Maybe if she yelled, she could wake someone up, hoping that they still had it in their ear, and on.

But it wasn't there. Mai gasped, and turned around to see if she could spot it on the ground behind her, but there was no sign of it.

_It must have come off when I tripped. Maybe John still has his... But how would that help unless someone woke up?_

Mai looked back to where Kiseki was, by the pond. "He said he would come here if anything happened. Why isn't he here?" She said, rather quietly.

Then she pointed at Mai. "You stay here! If he comes back, call for me. I'm going to search the forest for a few days! If you aren't here when I get back..." Kiseki left the threat open ended.

Mai didn't want to stay at the pond. The cold air was numbing by now. And her ripped pajamas were not doing much to help. If she had cut herself, she wouldn't have been able to tell. It was not the best place to stay, because if she stepped onto a particularly weak spot, the ground would collapse, and she would end up in the cold water. "Kiseki-chan, why don't you stay here, and _I'll_ go through the forest looking for Shouta-kun." Maybe it would work.

"No! You stay here! I doubt you even know how to get out of here!" With that, Kiseki began to run off in a different direction from the one that she and Mai had come from.

"Kiseki-chan!" Mai called, but it was too late. The darkness had already completely obscured her.

Sighing hopelessly, Mai looked behind herself.

The shrub through which she had come through left no signs of ever being passed through. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see which one it was.

_Great. I'm waiting for a spirit that I can't even see, or a person who will never come._ _What do I do now? _Although, Mai had an answer to this. She had three main points to her situation. It was really early in the morning, she hadn't had enough sleep, and she needed some sort of information. Luckily, there was one thing she could do that would deal with all three.

Mai settled down in some of the knee high grass, and closed her eyes.

* * *

Masako heard some voices in the other room, and opened her eyes. 

It was about 6:45 in the morning. She stood up and turned to the entrance to the kitchen, where Naru, Lin, Takigawa and Ako were talking.

"There has never been two at once before. Its a surprise. The last person was gone for a week, so who knows how long it will be before you can find them." Ako said. Masako entered the kitchen, noticing that both John and Mai weren't around.

_That must mean..._

Masako walked towards the table. "Good morning." She said.

Ako looked up. "I'm really sorry about your friends. I'm going to go out and search through the forest. It may not help that much, but I have to do what I can."

She stood up and put on a pair of shoes before leaving.

Masako took her spot at the table. "We are prepared for this, right?" Takigawa asked. Lin stood up and walked into the other room.

"Takigawa-san. Go check the camera pointing at the door from the midnight onwards." Naru said. He sighed, but stood up,and complied.

Lin came back past Takigawa with a device in his hand. He put the device in front of Naru, then sat back down.

It was device with a few keys and a screen the size of a deck of cards. He turned it on, and a grid appeared on the screen. Masako watched without saying anything.

On the screen were several green dots very close in the middle, one a bit away, and another quite far away. Naru pressed one of the buttons a few times, and the grid got wider. The clustered dots didn't change, the one a bit away moved to near the edge, and the last one was too far to be seen on the screen. Naru pressed another button, and the grid slid along, until the green dots that had been there were gone.

After a few seconds another dot appeared on the screen, moving in a slight zig zag pattern towards the side.

"The cluster would be ourselves, and the other two would be Taniyama-san and Brown-san" Lin said. Naru flicked it back to the original place it had been.

"Yesterday, I had you place those receivers all around the property, as far as you could go without getting lost. Now we have a general idea of where they might be."

Takigawa reentered the room. "Somehow the camera was in the wrong place. We didn't get any footage of where Mai was sleeping by the heater, or of the door. I checked the camera pointed at John. He got up and walked out of view." he pointed at the device in Naru's hand. "Well? Where are they?"

Naru paused for a moment. He had moved the camera a bit... but he was sure it had been to the right place... "Lin, stay here and direct us to the others. Takigawa-san and Hara-san, come with me. We can easily find the stationary one, but the moving one will require us to work together."

They nodded. Masako pulled her microphone out of her pocket, and put it on her ear. Takigawa already had his on his ear, and so did Naru. Naru stood up and put on some shoes.

Once outside, Lin directed the three up the hill. "Just a bit more..." They took a few more steps. Takigawa looked to the right. There was a huge stack of tires.

"What is that for?" He asked.

Naru knelt down and picked something up. "I found it." There was a microphone in his hand. It had a blue ribbon tied around it, but it was definitely the same kind that the rest of SPR was wearing.

Takigawa looked around. "But thats not what we were looking for. I'll bet that's Mai's. Meaning the one remaining moving would be John."

Masako looked around as well. "She can't be that far away then." Naru didn't say anything, but looked at the microphone in his hand.

"Lin. Next." Naru said, and put the microphone in his pocket

**

* * *

**

They had been following careful instructions for about 2 exhausting hours, full of trial and error, when they finally had the signal from John's microphone almost cornered. Naru began to approach, just as Lin instructed. Masako was right behind John, and Takigawa was preventing him from running off from another side. The large pile of rocks was blocking from the other side.

Naru caught sight of John, in his pajamas looking around shift-ily his back to the large pile of rocks. He lookd a little bit beat up, as if he hadn't cared what was in his way, but just walked through it.

"Why are you following me? How did you catch me?" He asked, loudly.

Naru ignored it, and instead continued to approach just as Lin was saying.

"Everyone. Forward, go towards him now." Lin's voice came.

"Somehow this isn't fair! Just give me a few days okay? I'll find him this time! I swear!" John said, looking to Naru, who was the closest of the group.

"Hara-san. Move a bit faster." Lin ordered.

Masako saw that John was possessed. "What is your name?" She asked, calmly.

John looked at her, now that she was also closing in. "You sound just like that other girl! All she tried to do is get me to give up! I wont this time! Don't even think about trying that!"

Takigawa was now at the right distance as well, so Lin told him and Masako to stop. "What other girl?" _If he means Mai, then we might be able to find out where she is._

John shook his head. "She's not going to leave the pond until I get back! She probably couldn't find her way out. If Shouta comes back, then she'll have him wait for me!"

Takigawa looked to Naru. "Where is the pond?" Naru asked.

"No! Thats our special place! Just because she found out about it doesn't mean I'm gonna tell everyone!"

John looked really weird, whining like a small child. Masako looked at him. "Please. Can you leave our friend? We can help you if you do."

"I don't think you can." John said.

Takigawa really wished he could do something, but there was nothing he could unless risk hurting a good friend.

Masako looked to Naru. He whispered something into his microphone. "Force." That was it. Takigawa and Masako got the idea. They began to approach, synchronized. John looked all around, then fell to his knees.

"I will keep waiting Shouta. Come and find me." Masako watched the spirit float up and away. It was a young girl in a summer dress.

"She's gone. It was just a little girl." Masako said. John looked around, confused.

"What... where are we?" he asked, looking at himself. It would have seemed that he had fallen while he was wandering, because his palms were dirty too.

"Brown-san. Where is your microphone?" Naru asked. John reached into his pocket, and pulled it out.

"Lin, we're coming back." Takigawa said, and they stared walking.

* * *

Mai saw a house. It was in the middle of the forest. The trees were tall, and the house was very small. A girl knocked really hard on the door. "Shouta! Shouta! Come on!" An older man opened the door. 

"Oh Kiseki-chan, Shouta said he went out to his secret place." The man said. Kiseki bobbed her head in a little bow.

"Do you know where that is?" She asked.

The older man laughed. "No, he wouldn't ever tell me. _It's a secret_, he said."

Kiseki laughed. "Okay, thank you, I'll find him."

Mai saw her run to a bit of a clearing. It was on a hill. _That must be where the lodge we are at right now was built._ She ran up it, and started to go through to some more huge trees.

Before doing so, she bent over to look at some very small trees growing. About 5 centimeters in height right then. Mai wondered how long ago this had happened. "They'll be good cover for the path in a while. I hope they get as tall as the ones around here!"

Mai watched as she headed down the hill. It was a bit less of a slope than Mai remembered, but the path was more defined.

Kiseki hurried to the bottom, and through two bushes. It was the same ones Mai remembered going through, but this time it had a gap created by people going through it lots of times.

By the water was two boys, about the same age as Kiseki.

"Shouta?" One of them turned around. Kiseki was in tears.

"Oh no. Kiseki! Why are you here? I thought you wouldn't be here for another week!" he said.

She pointed at the other boy, who seemed very uncomfortable. "Why did you... I thought it was a secret!"

Shouta didn't have anything to say.

"I never want to see you here again! If you come back, I'll... I'll... I'll push you in!" Kiseki said, turning around, but not leaving.

"No!" the other boy said. "I'm sorry, I made him show me! Its my fault!"

Kiseki turned again. "I hate you, Shouta." she said quietly, then walked away.

Mai saw the two boys watch the crying girl leave, but not move to follow.

* * *

Back at the lodge, everyone was sitting around in the base. Everyone except Mai, that is. John was watching the footage of himself getting up over and over to see if he remembered anything. 

Masako told them about what she saw. "Just a very young girl. She must really want to see this Shouta. Do we have any way of telling whether or not he is alive?"

Takigawa sighed. "Mai would be reeeealy helpful at a time like this. After all, hers is the kind of research not restricted by electricity, Internet access, or location."

"We will alert Yasuhara-san and Mori-san tonight then?" John asked, turning away from the monitor.

Naru nodded, and looked at the microphone in his hand.

"Unless we find Mai before then." Naru looked to his watch. "For now, we'll get something to eat."

Masako, Takigawa and John stood up, and went to the kitchen, just as the door from the outside opened up to reveal a tired Ako. "Brown-san!" She said, and sighed. "You're back already."

Lin looked to the kitchen. He spoke to Naru. "You're going to then?" Naru nodded, and Lin walked into the kitchen.

Masako sat down at the table, and Takigawa thought for a moment. "Do you know about a nearby pond?"

Ako shook her head. "Only the lake here. There isn't any other water that I have come across." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help. But I can make you a lunch..."


	5. Trees 5

Well, it took a bit longer than I expected to actually start. But I got it done! So no worries! Hokay? Well, I'd like to take less time, but who knows what the future will hold. But seriously! I wanted to have it out days ago! The problem with large gaps between chapters is that you forget what happens. I really will try hard yeah?

In that far-too-long period of time, I did lots of thinking, so now All I have to do is write it all out! And While I don't intend to have such large gaps between updates, I will maintain my length standard regardless! For those of you who prefer to read shorter chapters, sorry. I base what I do on the things I like, yeah?

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

5-

After eating, Naru turned to address the group. "Everyone continue searching outside. Including Komaya-san. Don't go to far into the forest." With that, he turned his back to the group, and headed into the base.

Takigawa decided all on his own that the instructions were useless. What were they supposed to look for? After all, the last times that hadn't helped. The only reason they found John would be the microphone. Although, the conditions surrounding Mai's disappearance were different from the previous ones. Especially if the ghost had been possessing John at the time. There seemed to be something that Naru wasn't saying.

_Although probably for some good reason._

Takigawa stood up first, "Right then. Sooner than later I assume right? So lets go." Lin watched them all leave, and looked back to Naru once it was empty.

Naru was at the camera monitors. He watched the Mai on screen enter, then disappear slightly off the camera. She then came a little bit back into the view of the camera, and looked like she was about to take off her shirt.

Thats when the door opened again, and Naru watched himself calculate the trajectory of the camera. He disappeared from view, and the camera's view changed slightly.

But it was perfect. It caught the whole door as well as the ground by the heater where Mai was sleeping.

So when did it change to the bad view that it had been on in at the time that John and Mai had disappeared?

Mai looked around shiftily a bit, and stood up. She walked behind the camera, and it's view changed again.

So that was it. But why did Mai move the camera? And it was still at the wrong angle for the shot taken when John was probably in the kitchen.

After a few more moments, it was moved again. Mai was wearing a different outfit now.

She didn't want to be caught changing on the camera. Naru was actually slightly surprised that Mai had even realized that the camera would be watched by someone else.

When she moved the camera the second time it was still perfect, but as she was walking away her hand bumped it again, and the camera began taking great footage of nothing important.

_Its not my fault the footage was lost._

Lin walked outside.

Naru picked up Mai's microphone.

* * *

Masako was sitting on the steps that led up to the main door when Naru walked outside. She watched him continue walking, and started slowly following.

He walked up the hill. Takigawa had been looking by the pile of tires, near where they found the microphone. Naru walked past him to the line of trees. John noticed, and ran over as well.

"Naru?" Takigawa asked, as Naru stopped where he was.

Masako was now there with Lin as well.

"Theres a path." Naru pointed down a slight path. It looked like it hadn't been used in years.

_How did he know to look there?_ Takigawa silently wondered.

Ako, who had noticed Masako walking up the hill, joined the congregation at the top of the hill. "That path?"

Everyone turned to face her, except Naru, who still looked down the path.

"You want to know what there is there? I have no idea. Every time I go down path I get lost,. Its complicated and there are parts where there isn't a path at all anymore. I can only ever find my way back to this hill."

Naru started downwards, and Takigawa was right after him. The fallen trees and shrubs obscured their vision, but they made their way to the bottom. Masako and John stayed at the top with Lin and Ako.

Once at the bottom, Naru walked along the remains of the old path, until he found himself face to face with a bush. Takigawa looked around. "lost?" Naru didn't say anything, but stared.

Takigawa sighed. "Well there's only one way to go. Besides back." He pushed Naru, even if he figured he would regret it at some point, maybe in the very near future.

On the other side of the bush, there was a pond surrounded by short grass.

"So this is the pond the spirit was talking about..?" Takigawa commented. "John! Can you hear me?"..."He found the pond!" Takigawa yelled. But no voice, not even a sound came back.

"The trees absorb all the sounds and wind." Naru said.

Takigawa began to search. "Mai has to be here. _She has to be_. Its where the spirit said that she was."

Naru looked around. Mai wasn't responding to the fact that they were there, so she was either not there, or asleep.

There was a bit of a disturbance in the grass closer to the edge of the pond. A few steps closer revealed colours amid the tall, gold grass. "Mai!" Takigawa followed Naru's gaze and came to the same conclusion.

They both made their way to Mai. I soon became obvious that she was sleeping. But sleeping outside, especially in a cold place, was dangerous. And Mai was shivering visibly.

"Naru?" Takigawa watched as Naru picked her up. "Lets get out of here."

* * *

When Mai woke up, she decided to take inventory. What had changed? What had stayed the same?

First off, She wasn't cold. She had been cold before.

Next, she appeared o have something over her eyes. She couldn't open them. That was very different.

And the last moment she remembered, she had ground beneath her feet. That appeared to be gone. Also, she had apparently lost her ability to move.

So why did she consider this awake? She could hear what was going on clearly, even if she had no way to interact with it.

The first voice she heard was Ako. "What happened? Is she okay?"

Next was John. "What was down there?"

The next one really surprised Mai. Not the voice, or what it said, but it's proximity. "There's a pond. The trees isolate the area." Naru said. The voice came from directly above her, and she sincerely hoped that she wasn't blushing.

Then Mai realized that John was okay. After all, he was right there. That, and they were worried about her! Mai wanted to say something along the lines of don't worry, but it seemed there might actually be something to worry about.

Masako spoke next. "Shouldn't you try waking her up?"

"You don't think that if moving her about, and our voices haven't woken her, there may be other circumstances surrounding this situation?" Takigawa said.

"I think that it would be best to let her lie down somewhere a bit more comfortable." Ako suggested. Mai silently agreed.

_But I need to let them know that I can hear them! Come on! _Mai was getting tired again.

It wasn't until she had been carried all the way to the lodge that she finally managed to say something. Her eyes refused to open, but she got out 1 syllable.

"Na..." She managed. _Should be enough_... she felt a bit lazy as she got more tired again.

"Mai...Mai? Can you hear me?" The voice from right above her again.

She tried, but her mouth wouldn't open. _No..._If she was only going to be able to say one or two syllables here and there, what could she say?

_Naru..._

But that would have been useless, and a waste. No, what about if she tried really hard... "Can't... see..." She murmured, softly.

"You can hear us then? But you can't see?" Ako suggested. _Yes..._ Mai thought, happy that they figured it out.

Silence followed, and Mai was set onto something soft. At this point, her back began to beg for attention. After sleeping in a ball in the cold, Mai was not surprised at the kink which had developed.

_Ow... I'm tried still. If I could talk, I would tell them about Kiseki... Supposing Naru doesn't already know. But I guess it will have to wait._

Mai fell asleep again, without ever having opened her eyes once.

* * *

The group less Lin who was staying at the lodge with Ako, had headed off to the pond to look around. The spirit had some sort of connection to it. That much was clear right away.

After making it down the path, and through the shrub, The SPR team was at the pond where they had found Mai earlier. It was about 4, so the area was still lit up by the sun.

But the water of the pond was pitch black. Takigawa watched its surface, that was not even slightly rippling, due to the lack of wind. "I could mistake it for molasses. It doesn't look like normal water." He said looking for a rock to throw into the water.

He located one, and threw it into the middle. It reacted like water should have, and rippled out from the point of contact. Masako put her hands into the water, and picked a little up. As she poured it down, it looked like water even then. It was clear so long as it was not in the pond.

"I wonder..." John commented. "Why is the water not stagnant?"

After all, the water seemed very still, so wouldn't mold grow on top? "I guess that is a bit weird. If Komaya-san is the only one who has any sort of house here, and she didn't know about it, then not many people must come here and disturb it like we do." Takigawa pointed out.

"The air is pure." Masako said, standing up. "The trees filter not only the wind, but they clean the air everywhere by the lodge. This place especially though, since it is so isolated."

Masako took a step forward, away from the edge of the pond, but her back foot slipped backwards. With a gasp she landed in the cold water.

No one was really overly concerned. It was a pond, so it was probably pretty shallow. That didn't mean that they didn't rush over anyway.

However, Masako reached over the edge of the land, unable to find ground with her feet. "I can't... get up..." She said, trying to grab hold on the ground again, and failing. "It's... deep..." As she was sliding in deeper, Naru grabbed one of her hands, and pulled her up out of the water.

"This isn't good. We should go back so you can get changed into something dry before you catch a cold." John said, looking back at the line of taller shrubs, trying to find where they had come from.

Masako looked back. "That would be impossible to get out of on your own. If I had been here alone..."

* * *

Back at the lodge, Masako couldn't find anything suitable to change into, so after a look through Mai's bag, Takigawa pulled out a pair of pajamas. Mai wouldn't mind, probably. It was Masako who took a bit of convincing to wear it.

After drying off and changing into the pink pajamas, Masako looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't something she would have ever purchased, but sometimes it was nice to wear something that doesn't belong to you.

Back with the rest of the group in the kitchen, nobody seemed to be doing anything in particular. Mai was on her bed by the heater, still not awake. She had been asleep for a long time. From late at night, to some point in the morning, then from another time in the morning, until she had been found at the pond, and then up until now. That had to be way more than 12 hours.

"All right then." Takigawa said, noticing Masako. "We're all here. And by that, I mean John as well. As in no one is missing. So do we need to call for assistance anyway?"

Naru looked over to Mai. "We will be. Mai said that she could hear what everyone was saying, but couldn't open her eyes. Something isn't right."

"Alright then. So until then?" Takigawa asked.

Naru looked around the group.

"Barricade the lodge."

* * *

Once again, Mai found herself in an odd half awake state, where she could hear everything, but still not be able to say or see anything.

"Barricade the lodge."

Naru's voice. The first thing she heard. But what was this about barricading the building?

"What do you mean? We can't do that! What will we use?" Ako asked.

"It doesn't need to be permanent. All we need is some sort of block that one person can't get out of the way quietly." Naru said. _Where on earth is he planning to get the materials to do that?_ wondered Mai.

Masako frowned. "That will be unnecessary, and impractical. If we allow the spirit to posses someone, then it will not only be a simple task of finding them, but it will also give an opportunity to talk with the spirit."

Ako nodded. "Yes... yes... that sounds better. I don't want any damage to my lodge. Besides, The spirit didn't move the cameras, they were just in the wrong position."

John also agreed. " Yes. That sound like a better idea."

"S'long as we have our microphones on us, we have no problems." Takigawa added.

Naru looked to Lin, who apparently agreed with the rest of the group. "Barricading the building would be too much effort, and It would need to be removed in the morning anyway, then set back up every night."

Mai wondered whether Naru was upset that his idea had been turned down. After all, they were all supposed to do what he said they were to do.

"Fine." Was all that Naru said on that topic. "Komaya-san, do you have some sort of boat that could be used to survey the far side of the lake?"

"Yeah, its a row boat, though. And I can't use the paddles."

Naru looked to Takigawa. "You will take Hara-san and use the boat to look around."

"What? Do you have any idea how tiring that is? And its not like Masako and I could alternate who its paddling either!" Takigawa said, standing up.

Naru didn't say anything. "You don't have any idea..."

Takigawa had stopped in mid sentence, and stood up with Masako, then left. Mai wondered what Naru did.

"Ah! They need life jackets!" Ako stood up, and grabbed something before leaving.

After a bit of silence, "Ah, Shibuya-san?" John asked. "Takigawa said that the spirit that possessed me said that Mai would have to stay by the pond until it got back there. What if that has something to do with the current situation."

"It is possible." Lin said. Mai thought that that made sense. After all, if she could have just walked away, then what would have been the use of the spirit leaving her there.

John continued. "To test this, All we need to do is bring her back to the pond, right? If she wakes up, then that proves it."

Mai was surprised that Naru hadn't thought of that. It did make sense, and Naru was smart wasn't he? Lin spoke next. "If need be, we could use some of the extension cords to put a camera in that area. We do have two cameras left over."

"All right then" Naru said. Mai cringed a bit, realizing that Naru was going to pick her up again. Then again, there had been a few times before that she had woken up somewhere different from where she had fallen asleep.

Take the case at Ryokuryou high school. When she was getting the tape, and fainted in the class room, she woke up in the nurses office. Had he carried her _then_ too?

Mai sincerely wished that she was not blushing for a second time, as she was picked up again.

* * *

Takigawa was putting on his life jacket, with Ako's help. Masako on the other hand, still in Mai's pajamas, was looking at hers without putting it on.

"Is it necessary?" Masako asked, as Ako finished tightening Takigawa's.

Ako nodded. "Completely! You absolutely must wear it. No exceptions. Thats not even your outfit, so if you're worried that you will get filthy, don't be concerned." Masako sighed and let Ako help her put it on.

"Oi, you know that if you had brown hair you would look exactly like Mai right now." Masako glared at him, and started trying to take off the life jacket.

"No, no, no! You have to wear it!" Ako said, hiding the clips in such a way that Masako couldn't reach them.

"I'm sorry, come on lets go." Takigawa said, stepping into the small metal row boat. "Your boat waits, Hara-sama." He said laughing.

After another glare, she got in. "I'll see you later, Komaya-san. I can't guarantee that you'll see this other person again though."

"How cold." Takigawa said, and started paddling towards the side they hadn't seen before.

After about half an hour of silence they made it to where Takigawa thought the end of the lake was, but it turned out the lake was 'U' shaped, so he, already tired, started paddling around through the particularly shallow waters, that had lots of weeds that floated on the surface. Masako decided to say something.

"Over there..." She pointed to the farthest spot from where they were in the water. "I feel something from over there."

Takigawa looked over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah right. I am NOT going to the very farthest part."

Masako sighed. "Then why are we here anyway? If we aren't going to do a proper search, then what was the point of coming out in the first place?"

"You," Grumbled Takigawa. "have a very cruel and unusual was of torturing people. You win, this time." Takigawa continued paddling, and was more focused on keeping pace than Masako, so he missed her vaguely amused smile, which would have been hidden behind a sleeve if she had one. But the lack of sleeve left the smile visible to those who cared to look.

Which included all of no one.


	6. Trees 6

So yeah. Actually was planning on doing this right after, to be like two REAALLY fast updates, but It didn't turn out like that, yeah?

Ahh... sooory.. I got the new Zelda game, and was playing it when i should have been writing... shaaaame on me! So I worked hard late at night when i knew i would regret it at work tomorrow!

Oh! And I started listening to all the tracks from ghost hunt, like the themes used in the background. One of my favourites is the one that plays while the ghost in 'ghost tories in the park' explains what happened to her. Its called '_Mabataki_'. Another one I like is also in that arc (Sorry, i just watched that episode again, so I loves the music from it), and it is called '_Rikai_' Very perty! I would love to write a story with sound cues for the songs! Like, just before a character says a dramatic line, I would cue some sort of dramatic piece!Wouldn't that be fun? Haha! Maybe for me... listening to the pieces over and over... (sigh) I guess not many people have the songs, or would have the patience to do that... yeah...

Last thing. I noticed even though i meant to say so in every chapter, I havent... thanks for teh reviews! Thank-you for taking the time to read each chapter!

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

6- 

Takigawa finally got the boat to arrive at the place Masako had pointed out. The shoreline was a bit muddy, so they stayed in the the small boat, while Masako looked as far over as possible without tipping the boat.

"Go a bit closer to the shore." She said, thinking she might have seen something.

Takigawa did as he was told without saying anything- not that he could, he was tired.

Masako strained her eyes, and looked just past a line of trees. Thats when she saw something that made her gasp.

"Masako?" Takigawa asked, looking at the shocked look on Masako's face. "What is it?"

She pointed, and Takigawa looked as well. "There's a rotting house there. It must be a lot older than Komaya-san's." Masako said, surprised.

"Didn't she say that no one else had a house on the lake?" Takigawa said, using his hand to block the light from the sun from getting in his eyes.

"Its probably abandoned." Masako said

"Well, lets go back. We can let them decide for themselves if thats important." Takigawa said, stretching his arms, and once again lifting the paddles up. "I don't suppose you could help?"

The lack of reply left Takigawa to assume it was once again up to him.

* * *

Naru was still the only one that knew exactly where to go to get to the pond, so he headed first into down the steep decline, carefully. John was after him, and Lin brought up the rear. 

Once they were at the bottom and Naru was face to face with the shrub he had stopped at first time, he thought back. He didn't remember actually stepping through it...

It hadn't registered at the time but he now realized that Takigawa had pushed him through it.

He pushed through on his own this time, not noticing that John and Lin had gotten lost.

* * *

"Shibuya-san?" John said, trying to find some sort of path. Lin was right behind him. "I don't see where to go..." 

Lin looked around and saw only one way to go. "Theres a path right there, but that is the one we came here by."

John looked around a bit. "Shiiibuya-san!" He called once more. "Maybe it would be best if we don't get lost as well." Lin nodded a bit, and they started up the hill that led back to open air where they decided to wait for Naru.

* * *

Naru looked behind him. John and Lin weren't there. He turned back to the pond, and set Mai back down on the ground. 

There were a few completely silent moments. The only things he could hear were his thoughts as well and his heartbeat. _Its been hard to think clearly..._ he thought, actually rather absentmindedly before brushing it off.

A rustle in the windless surroundings finally cut through the air. Naru turned a bit, and Mai rubbed one eye with her hand.

The first thing that she thought was that she was a bit sore after not being able to move. She then opened her eyes, to see Naru's black jacket stand out completely from everything else, except the black water.

She stood up shakily, and steadied herself on her knee before finishing the action. "Naru?"

He didn't say anything. Mai wasn't sure if her voice was working, so she debated trying to call him again. But if she had spoken then she would look like an idiot...

"Where is everyone?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest to keep the heat in. Even without wind, the area seemingly refused to retain any heat.

"Takigawa-san and Hara-san are surveying the lake, and the others got lost." Naru said, turning to face the pond.

* * *

Kiseki decided that the chance that it would be today were slim to none. He wasn't going to be at the lake either, probably. But in the future he would come back one day! 

She figured it would be best to check on the girl a the lake. After all, if she tried to leave, she would be pretty much knocked out immediately. Then what good was she as a watch?

Kiseki floated her way towards the lake. But when she got there, she was shocked to see the girl sitting on the ground and...

It was _him! That idiot that Shouta had brought here that day! He's older... But I'd know him anywhere! Its his fault!_ The girl stood up and started talking.

Kiseki listened in. The two were friends.

_Thats means they're my enemies._

Kiseki felt like going down right then, but she didn't have a good idea. _But if I'm going to get back at them, I need to always know where they are so when I do come up with a plan..._

_And the easiest way to do that would be to continue to not let her leave the pond, so I can shadow Shouta's friend. He's a lot older. I wonder what Shouta looks like now..._

"Naru, It's cold. Lets go back." So his name was Naru. And she wanted to go back to the lodge?

Naru turned back to the girl, and pointed at the bush that you had to pass through to get to the pond. He then followed her as she forced herself through it.

Kiseki smirked, and she got herself in a position that facilitated the sight she wanted to see.

The girl, as soon as she had passed through the bushes fell straight forwards towards the ground.

"Mai!" Naru called, and caught her hand to prevent her from hitting the ground. She was out again. _Big surprise. Maybe now that you realize the situation, you'll put her back and leave like a good boy. _Kiseki watched as he picked her up again, and put her back down on the ground carefully in a place that wasn't wet.

He put a hand to his ear.

* * *

Naru put a hand to his ear. "Lin. Bring Mai's stuff, and some food to the top of the path." Naru said, looking back to where Mai was now rubbing her eyes again, confused. "And a camera with extension cords." 

Naru reached into his pocket and pulled out the microphone that had a ribbon attached to it. He handed it to Mai. "Don't loose it again."

Mai took it and put it in her on her ear. "Okay..." Mai was a bit disoriented what with the fact last she remembered, she was trying to leave.

"I'll be back." Naru said.

Mai turned and watched him leave. _I should probably just go back to the lodge. I'm a bit cold._ Mai stood up, and headed towards the tall bush Naru had gone through. It was now a bit dented, and one could tell that it was the access to the outer world after a moment of scrutiny.

Mai walked towards it. Would she find out what happened last time she tried to leave by doing it again?

As soon as she passed through the bush she collapsed on the ground again.

* * *

Kiseki watched the girl, and wondered what she was thinking. If it hadn't worked every other time, why would it work now? Kiseki decided she would sleep for a while... about an hour even if she got carried back into the pond area. 

So , as long as the girl wasn't going anywhere, she could go watch the boy from afar for a bit. Naru...

* * *

Naru was waiting at the top of the hill already when Lin arrived with Mai's bag, a tripod, and some extension cords, which were all connected and left a trail behind them led back to the lodge. John was holding a bottle of water, a small white pack that probably had some sort of food, two blankets over his shoulder, as well as a camera. 

"Last time we lost you. This time, don't get too far ahead." Lin said. Naru took the tripod and they all started down the hill again.

Once they got to where the bush was, and saw Mai sprawled on the ground, Naru immediately put down the tripod, and picked her up. John grabbed the discarded tripod, and this time, Lin and John made it successfully to the pond.

Naru set Mai down again, this time on one of the blankets John brought. Lin pulled a pillow out of the bag he was carrying and put Mai's head on it. John followed up with the second blanket.

Mai didn't wake up this time. She just slept there. "Did she actually wake up at one point?" John asked. Naru nodded.

After waiting a few moments, John began to hook up the camera. "Komaya-san? Is this okay?"

"Yes! Thats a beautiful place... I get a good view of Mai and a lot of the water." Came a voice through John's microphone. Lin temporarily gave his microphone to Ako so they could communicate.

"Alright then. We're coming back." John turned to Naru. "Shibuya-san, what will you be doing?"

Naru looked around. "I'll stay here. Let me know when Takigawa-san and Hara-san get back." Lin and John left. Naru sat down on the blanket next to Mai, and began to think.

* * *

Takigawa was very relieved when they could finally see the lodge again. Masako was bored, but the surroundings were nice, so she stared around. 

John's voice came over Masako and Takigawa's microphones. "Hara-san, Takigawa-san, It looks like we figured out what happened to Mai. She has to stay at the pond we found, so we moved her stuff over there. Shibuya-san is waiting there until you guys get back."

Takigawa nodded even though John couldn't see. "Yeah okay! Will do. But I'm tired so it may be a bit yet."

Masako glared at no one in particular. If the amount of time Naru was spending with Mai would be cut short by them speeding up, then, "Takigawa-san. Go faster."

Takigawa didn't pick up on why Masako wanted to get to lodge so fast due to his fatigue, but just sighed. "If you don't like the speed do something about it yourself"

Masako glared. Thats right. Unless she wanted to paddle, (which she didn't) they were going to keep going as they were.

But while Masako didn't want to paddle she wanted to go faster. Maybe if she took one paddle, it couldn't be that hard could it..?

No, leave the hard work to the men. Sighing at the fact that she was unable to affect the situation, she leaned backwards a bit, careful not to upset the balance.

* * *

Ako was pacing around the lodge when John and Lin got back. It was already about 18:00. The air outside wasn't warm to begin with, and it was colder at the pond. Factor in the fading sun light, it was even colder. 

Ako turned to face the two as they walked in. "I can't think of anything to make for food!" She said, sighing. "Theres some vegetables that I got from the small garden the other day, but other than that, breakfasts are much easier."

John was confused. "Then what did you send with Mai?"

Ako shrugged. "Some crackers, chips, and some smoked fish." she said.

John sighed, and thought. Lin looked around. "If breakfast is easier, then we'll have a second breakfast."

Ako looked at them, questioning if that was okay. John nodded. "We appreciate your help a lot."

Ako nodded, and got to work.

* * *

Naru felt the air get colder as the sun dived behind the trees. It already looked very late at night, but his watch informed him that was not the case. The air was barely breathable. It almost cut his throat as he breathed it in. 

Mai seemed to be doing okay regardless, so that was good.

Naru stood up and began pacing a bit. It wasn't really as dark as it seemed. The trees cut off the sun's rays around the pond. Which meant thats the shadows covered this area. Thereby it seemed cold. That, and the dark water gave him the feeling that it was a lot later than it actually was.

He had probably been waiting at least a half hour when A voice came over his microphone. "Hara-san and Takigawa-san are back." John's voice said. Naru was a bit reluctant to leave Mai alone, but there wasn't much to do here at this point. If he waited, it wouldn't make a difference.

* * *

According to the camera, Mai still hadn't moved by the time they were supposed to set of a flare. No one was really hurt, so setting of a red flare could have been a bad idea. Its was a communal decision to set of a green one: Immediate assistance required. 

It was unfortunate that the flares couldn't be as effectively used during the day. After all, no aid could even begin coming until the next day.

Naru had already told everyone that they could go to sleep when Lin called for his attention.

"Maybe you forgot, but I did get a weather chart." Lin picked up a piece of paper, and showed it to Naru. Takigawa, who hadn't gone to sleep yet, heard Lin, and decided to see what he was concerned about.

"Rain..." Takigawa said for the benefit of those not near.

Naru turned around. "The camera will be fine. I had planned for this as well. That one has a casing on it."

Nobody said anything. After all, was Naru intentionally not pointing out what else would be left outside?

_Maybe he doesn't have an answer for Mai _Takigawa thought.

It was Lin who understood best the situation. After all Takigawa and the others probably didn't understand the danger of allowing Mai to just stay at the lodge asleep. While the rain was cold and wet, it was less fatal. Although if she got sick...

Ako seemed to understand a bit better than the others as well. She did work in a hospital. She understood that Mai, even if she looked 100 percent, may not have necessarily gotten over the shock your systems go through while in hospitals. Mai especially, having been pushed of a roof.

Naru apparently had no answer. Lin turned the screens off, and stored the weather chart he had on the desk so everyone could look at it when they had the time. If they had the time.

Naru didn't appear to be going to sleep yet, so Lin Decided to leave him alone. Having no answer must have been difficult enough.

"Ako must've forgotten to light the fire when she went to sleep. Suddenly it seems a lot colder in here." Takigawa murmured. John and Masako were already asleep

"Suddenly?" Naru looked into the kitchen. There was a bright glow escaping the wood burning heater. He grabbed the room thermometer, and looked at the temperature. It did seem much colder than it was the day before. Naru checked outside. It was even colder out there.

"Lin. Is something wrong with this thermometer?" Naru asked. Lin took it, then went back inside and checked the temperature.

"What were your results?" Lin asked looking at the digital readout.

"1 inside, -6 outside." (Celsius) Naru said exhaling a breath of visible air.

Lin looked at the screen. "I get 7 inside." Naru walked in, and the temperature reading dropped 6 points almost immediately. Takigawa whistled.

"Naru, apparently you're a ghost. So who's right? Ayako or me?" Takigawa said, studying the machine in front of him.

"What?"

"Are you a Chirei? Or a Jibakurei?" Naru didn't even appear to register that Takigawa had said anything. He paused to think. Why would he be changing the temperature inside the lodge?

"Come on! Can I be right? Please?" Naru didn't bother to reply to that comment. He got right on with what would help him understand.

"Takigawa-san. You said that it felt more cold, 'All of a sudden'." Naru said.

Silence was the response.

"Well?"

Takigawa frowned. "I didn't hear a question in that." Naru glared. "Okay fine. I may have just not been paying attention, but yes, it did seem to be all of a sudden."

Naru nodded. "Wake Hara-san up."

Takigawa prodded Masako. Lin had come to the same conclusion as Naru.

Masako opened her eyes and looked around. When her gaze landed on Naru, her eyes widened. "Naru..! Its her!"

It started getting colder, and the breath coming from all those alive in the building was now visible.

"That girl!" Masako said. "I can see you!" She paused. "Why are you..." The air got colder still. Takigawa began his chanting, and Masako watched as the spirit was driven away.

Naru nodded. "She must have seen me at the pond, and is upset that I was there."

"But Naru-bou," Takigawa said. "Everyone went to the pond. Why would she be targeting you?"

"I was the only one who was caught. It must have been while I was waiting with Mai." Had Naru been a normal person, the thought that entered his head would have made him trail off, and hold a shocked look for a moment before dashing out of the building.

But Naru was certainly not normal. Instead, he paused to think over his thoughts, then, "I'll be back.", then he walked out the door. Only once he was sure there was no one following, or watching, did he break out into a run.

The few rain drops that hit him were not consoling when he thought about Mai. It was barely any time before it had grown into a steady rain. Naru looked down the hill. If he went down now, it might be too muddy for him to get back up.

But if the ghost had tried to do something to him, next in line was Mai.


	7. Trees 7

SO yeah! I have not much to say. Sorry for the delay, and please enjoy!

Right now I love the song Karuma, the intro theme to the game 'Tales of the Abyss" I almost beat that game. At the final boss I ran out of recovery items, except a few lottery gels... and I'm not using those hokay? Although I did get through half (the cinematic thing with tear singing)with no life bottles... I love the FR-LMBS (**F**lex-**R**ange **L**inear **M**otion **B**attle **S**ystem)

And Yowake Umare Kuru Shoujo (end theme for Shakugan No Shana)

Oh! And this story is definitley pre volume 9/episode 25... just so yeh know

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

7-

Mai sat up and sighed. Suddenly it was really dark. She seemed to remember there being some decent sunlight...

She was quite pleased to see that her stuff was outside. She had always loved camping under the stars. She had done it once, maybe twice long ago with her parents. Both times they 'accidentally' forgot their tent. It was good times. Mai felt some rain on her nose

Mai stood up before her trip down memory lane brought tears to her face. She inhaled the beautiful pure air and smiled. Although...

She could hear someone crying. Mai walked to the edge of the water, where she located the epicenter of the sound, even if she couldn't see anything.

"Kiseki?" Mai asked tentatively. She figured it was probably the small child. Mai strained her ears and heard.

"It hurt..." came Kiseki's soft voice.

Mai didn't say anything right away. She wondered what could hurt a spirit... or was it remembering its death? "What happened?" She asked, after thinking a moment.

"They did something, and I was sent away... It hurt! I was..." she sobbed a bit. "I was hoping Shouta would be here to cheer me up..." the rain got a bit harder, hitting Mai's arm a few times, as well as her face again.

Mai took off her shoes and put her feet in the cold water. It was freezing, but refreshing. _A cup of tea would be nice..._ But she closed her eyes and smiled a bit. "Maybe Shouta _is_ waiting for you."

Kiseki's voice wavered. "But I don't see him... he's not here." the rain picked up a bit more.

Mai shook her head. "No... maybe he has passed on and is waiting for you to do the same..." Mai said opening her eyes and looking over the water's surface. "Maybe he..."

At that moment there was a rustle behind her. "Who..?" Kiseki shouted, which was more like a regular voice in her present state. Mai turned around, to see Naru, out of breath, staring at her.

"What're you.." started Mai. But she was cut off.

"That hurt!" Kiseki cried, her anger making her manifest a bit more. Mai could now see the young girl a bit. She was wearing a light, yellow summer dress with white flowers, and sandals. She had shoulder length black hair, similar to Masako's.

Naru didn't say anything, but didn't move forward either.

"That really hurt! What did you do!?" She got a bit angrier, and Mai could see her much more clearly. The rain began coming down faster. Naru and Mai were both soaked.

"Kiseki-chan!" Mai called. "Please don't!"

Kiseki's rage was now a physical force in itself. "No!" She glared at Mai forcefully, and Mai fell into the water as if she had been pushed.

Naru ran over, but the spirit knocked him back a bit just as she had done with Mai.

Mai began treading water, but it was really cold. It leeched into her bones, and drained her energy right from them. She swam to the edge and tried her best to get out. But she couldn't get a grip on anything, and slipped repetitively.

Kiseki looked at Mai and her eyes widened. She let out a scream and disappeared. Naru immediately grabbed Mai's hand. The rain got harder. Mai was thinking about how happy she was the bag with all of her stuff was waterproof.

Naru pulled Mai up. "Are you okay?"

The coldness bit into her very being. So much that she didn't notice the concern in his voice. "Naru... thats how she died." She looked to the water. "She drowned on a rainy day, waiting for him here."

Naru didn't know who 'he' was. But for now, Mai would get hypothermia if nothing was done. "Do you want to try to got to the lodge?" Mai nodded, and looked around. She could have sworn she knew which one was the right one to go through to get to the lodge.

Naru took her hand, and lead Mai towards the correct shrub. Part of the way there, Mai dropped his hand and stopped. She began shivering. "Actually, I'm good here. I can't walk anymore." She sat right down where she was, as the rain continued to pelt down on them.

Naru didn't say anything. The dark hid his eyes. Any chance she might have had (even if it were slim to none) to understand what he was thinking was absent.

"I'll stay out here okay? Don't go catching a cold." Mai said, sneezing. She struggled back to her feet only to take a few steps and fall onto her now soaked blanket. "... cold" she muttered softly.

Naru was upset with the decisions before him. He could walk back alone, or take Mai against her will. But if he went alone she would without a doubt get sick.

She was his assistant. Assistants do what the boss wants them to. Naru picked her up and carried her back to the lodge. He left the camera and everything else.

The camera might get a good shot of... something... at some point.

* * *

When Naru walked back into the lodge soaking wet with Mai in his arms, Everyone had already gone to sleep. Or was at least pretending to. Whatever it was, it worked, and Naru didn't notice.

Naru set Mai on his bed, then sat down for a moment, knowing that he would probably have to carry her back to the pond again in the morning.

But the rain was supposed to continue, so they would have to rig up a makeshift tent, or something. Why had he not thought of someone possible staying outside?

Its not like it was his fault. Mai really knew how to get those stupid spirits attention. And when that happened...

Naru looked around. There was there was no where left for him. He sighed and looked around the room once more as if it were just hiding a good place from him. He could just stay up and monitor the cameras. Except that the bright screens were off, and so was the generator. It had been deemed that the generator was too loud to permit restful sleep.

Naru wondered when the power had started shifting away from him. It felt like a lot of decisions made by him were being thrown down. Naru decided that he would be a bit firmer with his instructions. After all, they didn't used to do this. He must have changed a bit. _Softened up a bit..._

No way. Not his style.

Naru turned his attention back to the sleeping problem. There was a cupboard with blankets in it, he could just take a spot on the floor.

Naru arranged this, only to find that it was much colder on the floor than he anticipated. He moved in front of the wood heater where Mai had stayed before.

Takigawa shuffled his blankets a little to cover up moving to try and get a better view. He had figured that _that _was what Naru was doing when he ran out. Rain, cold, angry spirit, or weird curse thing?

The obvious decision in this case would be the latter. However, it wouldn't always be. The curse itself would probably advance and become more dangerous when in effect. In the morning, rain or none, they would have to move Mai back outside.

And even if Naru said not to, there would be no choice.

* * *

In the morning, Naru was awake first. He knew the rain was supposed to continue for at least 2 more days. But there was a slight reprieve from it, so he decided that if he was going to set up a makeshift tent, it would be best to do it right then.

There were two component to a tent. A frame, and covering. The frame could be made by the wood lying around. There was plenty around, leftovers when the building was built. The covering could be anything large enough that was waterproof. A tarp would work, as long as they had two. One to cover the top, one for the ground. Then they would put a blanket over the ground. Voila. Makeshift tent.

There were a few tarps in the cupboard that housed extra blankets, so that was good. Naru grabbed them before deciding to go outside.

He paused before actually opening the door.

He was the boss. The peons do the hard work.

So who would be doing the work this time? Naru thought back to the time that Takigawa pushed him through the bush before they found Mai the first time. He _had _decided that there would be a repayment of some sort. This would work.

Naru put the tarps down on the kitchen table, and walked back into the room where everyone else was sleeping. He grabbed a pencil that was lying on the desk by the monitors, and poked Takigawa hard on the forehead with the eraser.

Takigawa stirred quietly for a moment before opening his eyes. "Come on." Naru said, and put the pencil back on the desk, heading outside.

Takigawa sighed. "Can't he wake someone up normally?" Takigawa muttered, wondering what he had done to deserve this. It was early in the morning, and his brain wasn't at 100 percent.

Outside, Naru was holding two large blue tarps, and was standing near a pile of wooden beams. Takigawa wandered over, getting a suspicion that he would be carrying some of those beams. Maybe because everyone had shot down his 'barricade the lodge' idea when he had put it forward the first time, he was going to sneakingly get it done.

"I'm not going to help." Takigawa said, yawning and looking to the sky. It looked like it was going to rain again.

Naru didn't seem overly concerned about the rejection. He never was overly concerned about much, but even if he was, he would never show it. At least not to Takigawa. "Fine then. Mai is going to have to stay out all day in the rain. You can shoulder the blame if she gets upset."

Takigawa was surprised. He really did think that Naru was going to make him barricade the lodge. "Oh.. Well if thats what your doing, I'll help."

Naru wondered what Takigawa had been thinking when he rejected at first. But Takigawa picked up a few of the pieces of wood that were best suited for the job, and they started towards the pond.

It was a bit of a problem getting the long boards down the hill, along the path and through the bush, but they made it. Naru deemed it necessary for Takigawa to get more boards.

Because Takigawa had to take three more trips to get enough, Naru went back to the lodge as well, and found some rope to use to hold the boards in their shape. He took as much as he could find and walked back past a tired Takigawa on his 3rd trip to the pond.

Once both of them had assembled everything Naru thought was necessary, he began instructing Takigawa on how to put it all together. But putting together the shelter he had in mind turned out to be a two person operation, so Naru soon found himself helping with the task, whether or not he liked it.

Once they had put together a decent little tent, Naru had Takigawa move Mai's bag under it. Takigawa also grabbed the Two wet blankets as well as the soaking pillow, and They both walked back to the lodge, where Naru grabbed a sleeping Mai, and Takigawa grabbed as many blankets as they could spare as well as another pillow.

Back at the pond, They were quite lucky. They laid down the blankets, and put Mai in the tent, just in time for the rain to begin to drizzle again.

By the time they got back to the lodge the rain was going all out, they were both soaked, and a faint rumbling, that signified a vehicle approaching could be head. All that remained now was to find out who was in the vehicle.

* * *

Mai woke up to the pattering of rain. When she opened her eyes she was assaulted by a glowing bright blue.

It certainly wasn't the sky, and it was definitely not there when she went to sleep. After her eyes cleared a bit more, it became obvious that it was a makeshift tent. The rain was still going outside, so she needed some sort of shelter. The food she never had a chance to eat was still sitting in a little container, forgotten in the tall grass somewhere. Due to her hunger, Mai stood up, and began to look for it.

The camera just outside of her little tent was a bit surprising. She did know it was there, but its angle was... Mai noted that if she wanted to get changed, she would need the cover of her blankets. She waved at it before continuing her search.

She found it just behind the camera, and opened it to find some crackers and fish. Next to it was a water bottle. She had a few in her bag still as well, so she figured that she may as well brush her teeth once she finished.

After all, fish was certainly not the sort of thing _she _enjoyed for breakfast. She munched on the crackers, with the fish on top, sitting on her back, like a stool. She watched the rain dent the black surface of the water. Mai really wondered why it was so dark.

If she was right about the fact that the spirit died in it, that might have been relevant. She really got the feeling that the reason Kiseki was so upset was that she was remembering her own death.

After she finished with her 'meal', Mai walked over near the edge of the clearing, and brushed her teeth with one of her water bottles.

There was nothing to do other than what had already been done, so Mai sat down, and sighed, humming a melody that she made up on the spot.

* * *

When the sound of the car was finally loud enough to signify that whomever was coming had arrived, Naru and Takigawa, as well as Lin who had woken up while the were out, went outside. Ayako was driving a rental vehicle, and Yasuhara was in the the passengers side.

"Ayako? Weren't you going to be gone?" Takigawa asked as she stepped out of the car, and looked around the area.

"Yeah, but when I heard that you guys had screwed something up, I had to come." Ayako said sighing. "I guess I'll have to do the clean up."

Takigawa just laughed. "yeah right.. with what talent? We're going to need a lot more than 9 words to deal with this."

Ayako steamed. "Well, if you give me a chance..."

Naru cut her off. "Yasuhara-san. Did you set it up?"

He nodded, and pulled out a particularly large cellphone. "The sound quality isn't great, but it will work." Ayako looked at the mechanism in Yasuhara's hand.

"So what we were doing stopping ever 15 minutes was for that thing?" she asked, exasperated. "I really am not going to collect up all those things that you left lying around, so you'd better be going with someone else on the way back."

"Umm, Naru-chan, what is that for?" Takigawa asked. "There no service for cell phones here, if you don't remember."

Naru ignored him, and walked up the hill. Yasuhara filled him in. "In order to get cell phone service out here, so we can contact Mori-san, should we need her to look something up. I used some signal boosters in order to get a a signal out here. But it only works with specific phones. Thats why I had to bring my cell phone."

Takigawa stared at the large thing in Yasuhara's hand. "That is your cell phone?"

"With extra big buttons so this old person's clumsy fingers don't miss the right spots." Yasuhara said, turning the face to Takigawa, who found out that rather than large buttons, it was covered in tiny ones, the numbers shoved off into the upper left hand corner, with a million other functions.

Ayako sighed. "lets go inside." The ruckus had woken up John and Masako. Ayako looked around after saying her hellos. "And Mai?"

The lack immediate answer was enough for Ayako. "So she's missing?" Ayako said.

"No. Some curse thing." Takigawa said. "She's fine, as long as she stays near some special place."

Ayako looked around. "Oh. Well can someone take me there? I want to see it."

Takigawa sighed. "Not now. I was up early thanks to Naru, making a tent for her. Plus thats probably where Naru went, going to ask Mai if she know anything."

Ayako growled for a bit, but it was best to leave Mai and Naru alone. In fact the consideration was rather refreshing.

Yasuhara nodded, listening to the conversation. "So did anyone disappear at all? How can you be sure of Komaya-san's story?" He looked around. "And where is she?"

Takigawa pointed to a door. "In there. Our cameras say that she is currently asleep." Takigawa said, checking the camera screen as he said so in order to verify the information.

John filled Ayako in on the other part of her inquiry. "I went missing the first evening, but due to Naru's thinking ahead, they tracked me down and I'm back. Since then we've had no issues with that."

"Not that we've really had that much of a chance for anything else to go wrong." Takigawa said. "Honestly, we're falling apart. Some how I get the idea that Naru hasn't been focusing as much as he could be."

Ayako nodded, and sat down at the kitchen table. A nice place Ako had here. "Maybe he was focused on other things. Things more important to him." Ayako hinted, trying to see if anyone else would catch what she had in mind. Apparently no one did, based on the confused expressions she was receiving.

"Hopeless..." Ayako said, sighing. _Then again. They wouldn't know. They haven't ever really cared about someone as much as_ I_ think Naru cares for that girl._ Ayako didn't know why that disappointed her as much as it did.


	8. Trees Finale

So yeah. I really intended to post this much earlier, but between a few people in the hospital, one NASTY cold, and privileges removed, it got delayed. I really hope you forgive me for that. I'm not a quitter. So yeah!

Now, Once again, I thank everyone who opened even the first chapter. Cookies for all who reviewed. Sorry for anyone slightly disappointed by the ending. 'cause I get the feeling people will be. But I did say right off the that that there wouldn't be a large connection between this and the first story. So you all who are, I have the first bit of the next story written. I think its a few hundred words. Like a bit of an intro. ANYWAY!

I'm happy to finish this. I have the epilogue pretty much word for word in my head. Thereby it will be only a short period of time before I get to posting it. It will be posted just before I post the first chapter of my next story, the third in the series of three I devised months ago now.

Anyway. I don't like making this very long, but whatever. It is time for me to pass onto the story. But I just have to say that I've been quite addicted to KOTOKO. The songs I like the most right now are _Sekka no Shinwa_, and _Dango Daikazoku _(which isn't by her.. but yeah...)... yeh.. umm no comment. That one has a sad sort of feel to it. The first was a bit of a challenge to find. I'd heard it once before, then found a step-mania file of it. That made me a bit happy. 'cause Now I can listen to it all the time. If you find it, its awesome!

Right so a bit of a relationship for Takigawa and Ayako.. My second fav. Pairing. Don't mind this dork.

teeheh

"_I am made of win!" Takigawa shouted._

:P

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

Finale- 

Yasuhara was wandering around outside looking at the area with John and Ako, while Ayako, Takigawa and Masako were sitting inside waiting for Naru to return. Ayako looked at the screen for the corresponding camera, and saw Mai and Naru talking. Even if she could lip read, it would have been useless. They had their backs to the camera.

Mai was sitting at the edge of the pond, presumably with her feet in it. Naru stood closer to the camera. She turned and said something, then frowned a bit.

Mai then looked back over the water. Naru turned and began walking away. Mai turned and watched with a bit of a smile, before sighing and looking back over the water.

"She must really like him eh?" Takigawa said, suddenly leaning on Ayako's shoulder, looking at the screen. Masako twitched, and looked from where she was sitting to see if she could catch something on the screen.

Ayako's fist nearly came in contact with his face, but Takigawa was faster than normal. "You..!"

He shrugged. "Whatever. At least she's not acting like her friends at her school. Being so stupidly obvious is _**so **_annoying." He sighed fakely, and dramatically.

"Like you would ever worry about that too much." Ayako quickly slapped his face this time, and didn't miss. "Being a guy and all, you wouldn't know how hard it must be for her to do that. Because acting '_stupidly obviou_s' around the person you like is so much easier than trying to stay like you normally are."

Takigawa backed off, and put a hand to his now red face. Ayako was mad, more so than usual. He turned back to the camera. Mai was laying back in the grass staring at the sky, her feet still submerged. "Lets go see her."

Ayako nodded, and stood up. Naru opened the door. He had a piece of paper with a few words scribbled on it. Yasuhara, john and Ako followed in and settled around. Ayako didn't look at him as she passed through the door.

"I'm gonna take her to the pond." Takigawa said. Naru didn't seem to register what he had said.

"Yasuhara-san. Make a call." Naru said, and Yasuhara nodded, picking up the thing he called his phone.

Takigawa moved out the door, where Ayako was waiting. "Lets go." She said, and Takigawa lead her up the hill towards the area where the trees were short. They saw Lin standing there, looking around. "Lin! What are you doing." Ayako called.

Lin looked up. "I haven't ever found the entrance to the pond on my own. Every time I go down there I get lost and wind up back up here."

Takigawa sighed. "I went back and forth from here to there so many times this morning, I'll find it, for sure.

* * *

"Mai." Naru's voice cut through her thoughts. She wasn't sleeping. Just lying in her tent, humming. The rain was still soft, but the cloud threatened much heavier. 

She opened her eyes. She couldn't believe Naru had actually gotten so close without her hearing. "Good morning." She said. She stood up, and walked out of her tent, and sat down in the wet grass near the edge of the pond.

"What do you know?" Naru asked, standing behind her.

She sighed silently. _Thats all he came for? Wait... What was I expecting? _She kept her back to him in case she was blushing when she recalled what she knew. "Well, that spirit is named Kiseki. She is waiting for someone named Shouta to come back. But she doesn't think he's dead, so she searches the forest using people, so she can call for him."

"This pond was their place. They swore that if anything ever happened, they would come back to this place. Shouta showed it to one of his friends, and Kiseki saw them both here. Then Kiseki got upset. Then I guess Kiseki was really upset, and began to wait here in order to apologize to Shouta." While saying this, she took off her shoes and socks, the submersed her feet in the cold water. A relaxing practice for her, regardless of the cold.

"I guess she fell in, and died in this pond. So her spirit is still waiting to apologize to this Shouta. I get the feeling he may be dead by now. After all, I have no idea when it all happened." Mai said, looking out over the water. The rain got a bit lighter.

Naru stared, stunned inside. All the while they were doing nothing really effective to advance the case, and Mai had all that figured out already. _Getting smarter..?_ Mai turned around and looked at him. "Is that good enough?"

"How much of that do you think I didn't know?" He lied. He felt a little bit like a small child getting defensive. Why did it bother him that Mai had figured all that out when he had learned next to nothing? Mai couldn't tell he was lying, and just frowned. She turned back to look over the water.

After a sigh, "Well, you asked what I figured out. I told you. If you already knew all that, why haven't you done anything?" Mai smiled to herself imagining a possible answer. '_I had no tea. Do you realize it has been _days _since I last had some of your tea?'_ She nearly laughed out loud, but that would have seemed very stupid.

"I just need bit more information. Which unfortunately you couldn't help me with." He closed the notebook he was holding. Maybe he was being a bit more insensitive than usual. After all that she had been through already recently... "Don't catch a cold, or get sick." He said quietly, before his brain had quite caught up. He hoped it was quiet enough that the girl hadn't heard, but in case she had he immediately began walking away.

Mai looked over at him walking away, and smiled a bit. Had her face not already been red from the cold, they probably would have gotten a bit more stained.

She looked back over the water.

If Naru hadn't ran into the pond area the night before, she would have probably been able to cleanse Kiseki's spirit right then. Maybe Naru really hadn't known what she knew. But, if he said he did, what benefit would it be for her to think that he already knew and that she was no help?

She stretched out backwards, and lay back on the ground, staring at the sky. Maybe she could get Masako to help her cleanse the spirit on their own. Now that they were getting to be better friends, it might be plausible...

"Maaaaiii..." Called a voice from nearby. Mai sat up and saw Takigawa standing at the edge of the clearing.

"Bou-san!" She smiled and looked over.

Takigawa turned to the bush. "You have to actually come through it you know, right?"

Mai couldn't hear the reply from whoever he was talking to. "Whatever." Takigawa said, and grabbed someone on the other side, pulling them through.

A particularly upset Ayako came through the bush.

"Ayako!" Mai called, and stood up. Ayako had a bright red face, and felt around for her non-existent purse.

"Why did I take it off??" She attempted to slap Takigawa who immediately got out of the way. Lin passed through the bush and sighed, looking around the area. He was happy at the lack of rain so far, and happy to be out of a cramped area with the unstable woman.

* * *

Ayako looked at the path they had to go down in order to get to the pond where Mai was. Takigawa began nimbly stepping to specific places. The rain had made it slick, and Ayako had no idea where to step. Lin, behind her, wasn't sure either. But he was smart and figured it out, looking over Ayako's shoulder. 

"Whats wrong Ayako?" Takigawa asked from the bottom. It was a considerable length from the top to the bottom.

"Well, I don't know how to get down a muddy slope." She said, looking at the length Takigawa had already covered.

Takigawa shrugged, and worked his way back up. He knew all the good footholds, and was up in moments. "I could carry you.." he suggested.

Ayako blushed a bit, then huffed. "Yeah right. Just show me the footholds."

Takigawa sighed in a relieved manner. "Thank the heavens! I don't think I could carry someone as heavy as you!" he turned around and was about to proceed down again.

Ayako leaned forward in an attempt to hurt him in some way shape or form, but ended up loosing her balance and sliding down right into Takigawa back.

Takigawa smirked as she struggled to get her weight onto her own feet. "Great..." She mumbled trying to get off of Takigawa. But even if they were on one of the better footholds, Ayako still was slipping trying to stand up strait, and Takigawa didn't appear to be doing anything to help.

Takigawa looked up to where Lin was standing, looking down on them like a pair of small children. It was fun teasing Ayako. And this was the perfect opportunity. Especially since he had perfect balance where he was. He entwined his arm with hers, effectively locking her in place, and causing her to stop struggling. Most likely out of shock."Thats it." He pulled her in front of him, and she stepped on his feet to get him to put her down.

"You will let go of me now!" She growled low. Takigawa was not going to oblige. Lin at the top sighed at the two children. Takigawa kept a grasp on her one arm, the wrapped his other over her stomach, to hold her in place. He just kept her feet on his, and carefully stepped down. Once at the bottom, He let go and Ayako stumbled forwards.

"You..." She cried, not bothering to complete the whole sentence. She turned slowly to where Takigawa was no longer standing.

He had already run through the bush. Lin made his way to the bottom slowly.

Ayako wasn't sure which one he went through, so she just glared around until she heard him calling for Mai.

"Maaaaiii..." he called.

"She's there? Hey, stupid monk!" Ayako called. Lin sighed, waiting for Ayako to get out of the way.

"You have to actually come through it you know, right?" Takigawa said, and Ayako moved closer to the bush she could hear his voice from.

"Hey! You had better..." Ayako started, but was cut off by Takigawa.

He sighed. "Whatever." He reached through, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her through

Mai was standing by the edge of the water. "Ayako!" She called happily.

Ayako ignored her, but looked around for her purse, or anything else to hit Takigawa with. "Why did I take it off??" She growled. Lin came out of the bush behind them, and Ayako attempted to slap Takigawa. He deserved it at that point.

WAAAAAY more than deserved it.

But he knew that as well, and thereby dodged it nimbly

Mai sighed and watched as Takigawa made slow progress backwards, while Ayako advanced, waiting for a second chance to strike. Mai slunk up behind Takigawa,and tried to trip him.

He jumped back, and laughed. "Ha! Neither of you can get me! I'm invincible!" Mai laughed herself. Takigawa stared at her. Anyone who says anything along the lines of that...

Ayako took one more step towards him. He took one more step back, and checked to make sure he wasn't too close to the water. Takigawa had gotten closer than he realized. Ayako ran up and pushed him the remaining few centimeters that she needed to.

Mai smiled, and Takigawa came to the surface. He floated where he was for a moment, before coming to the edge and trying to pry himself out of the water.

Ayako watched him struggle for a bit. Lin behind them shook his head and sighed once more.

"Apologize" Ayako said, stepping on his hand. It began to drizzle. Mai saw the pained look on Takigawa's face.

Mai looked to Ayako. "Ayako, I think he gets it."

Ayako didn't relinquish the foot. "Apologize." She repeated glaring. The drizzle picked up more, now suitable for the name rain.

Mai looked at Takigawa. She had fallen in the water, so she knew that it was not only difficult to stay on the surface, but also that it leeched energy from you. "I don't think he can speak right now. Its really hard to anything but breathe while in that water Ayako..."

The rain quickly became a downpour. "APOLOGIZE!"

Mai grabbed Ayako's arm, trying to pull her away. When it turned out to be futile, She looked over to Lin, who immediately came over, and shoved her into the water, over top of Takigawa.

Mai grabbed Takigawa's hand and helped him out, while Ayako was busy making her way to the edge.

Takigawa successfully stood up with Mai's help. He offered a hand to Ayako, and frowned. "I'm sorry." he said sincerely. Ayako took the hand.

Once all were once again on solid land, Mai laughed again. "Well, I'm going to say that you guys must be frozen now."

She walked over to her tent, and pointed at her blanket. "It should be warm still, so you guys can wrap it around yourselves. But theres only one, so you'd have to share."

Ayako shook her head. "No way! What would you have then? You and Lin are both as wet as we are from the rain!"

Mai thought for a moment. "Given, but if you don't want to, please don't let that be the reason."

Takigawa shook his head. "I agree with Ayako." Lin looked to the now severely damaged bush. It was clear how to get in and out of the pond area now.

Mai nodded, and sat down under her tent. "Okay. But go back now. And send Masako over here. Please?" She said, smiling.

Lin left, and Ayako nodded before heading out as well. Takigawa stayed behind and watched them.

"You fell into the water last night, didn't you." Takigawa said, rather than asked.

Mai nodded. "It must have been even colder then. Please don't go so close to it while on your own. After all, you _can't_ get out on your own." Takigawa looked out over the pond. It was being punctured by innumerable rain drops.

_Hopefully it wont raise the level of the water. After all, the ground all around it is flat..._

Mai waved as Takigawa headed towards the bush.

_If Masako comes, I'll ask her to call out to Kiseki, then we can cleanse it together, and be back. If it works out like it did with the spirit in the park..._

_I Want to do something helpful... Whatever else Naru needs to know, I want to deal with this before he find out! After all, I have to prove my worth. I can get Masako to tell me if she's here, or I'll tell her my plan, and get her to talk to Kiseki._

* * *

Masako grabbed an umbrella after receiving the news that Mai wanted to talk to her. She had been to the pond once. Once she got to the slope that Ayako had trouble with, She carefully stepped down the now much more dangerous slope. 

At the bottom, Masako realized she was still wearing Mai's pajamas. She would soon find out if Mai was okay with it, one way or another.

Masako immediately spotted a damaged bush, and looked through it to see the pond. "Mai?" She called. Stepping through she saw a makeshift tent. Mai was sitting in it, staring at the water. Masako stepped through the bush careful not to damage the umbrella and called to her again.

"Mai?"

Mai turned and smiled. "Masako!" Masako walked to the tent, and stood in front of Mai. "Hey! Those are mine!" Mai laughed.

"What... Well.. I" Masako was trying to come up with some sort of good reason why she was wearing Mai's pajamas.

Mai cut her off before she had a chance to say anything. "You can keep them if you want. They look really nice on you. You do more justice to them than I do. Besides. I rarely see you in clothes like that. Its so nice!" Masako blushed a bit and turned around to look at the water.

"Thank you... But what did you want to see me for?" Masako said, looking around some more and spotting Kiseki crouching, and looking at her from a patch of grass just a bit away. The look was one of distrust. Masako didn't like that look. So she smiled and waved a bit with her free hand. But Masako wondered why the spirit was sitting around in a place like this.

Mai looked out over the water as well. "I want you to help me get Kiseki to pass on. I think I know what to say but I don't know where she is..."

Masako put up a hand to get her to be quiet, and she walked to where Kiseki was.

Kiseki looked at her. "You _can _see me then..."

Masako nodded, and Mai looked out from the edge of the tent, to Masako. "Last night, you were talking to Mai, and she didn't finish what she was saying, did she?"

"Mai.." Kiseki murmured. "That one you guys call Naru. He didn't know Shouta, did he?"

"No." Masako shook her head. Masako didn't really understand what was going on, after all she didn't really understand everything yet, but whatever. If she said yes, or that she didn't know, things could get complicated.

Kiseki nodded and looked at the water. "I don't think I can talk to her anymore. She doesn't know where I am. She can't hear me anymore, can she?"

Masako shook her head. "That doesn't matter, if you come here, she can talk to you. Even if she can't see you, or hear you, does that mean she can't say anything?"

Kiseki looked at Mai, who was looking at Masako curiously.

Masako decided that she wouldn't let Kiseki posses her. She would just tell Mai to start talking.

Masako walked over to Mai, and Kiseki followed. Masako smiled at Kiseki. Kiseki looked at Mai.

Mai looked to the sky. "Kiseki, you can hear me right?" Mai guessed correctly, hoping that Kiseki was indeed who Masako had been whispering with.

Kiseki replied, even if Mai couldn't hear. "Yes... I'm sorry about yesterday..."

Mai smiled and closed her eyes. "I may not be able to see you, nor hear you, but I have something to say.

"Shouta. He may have already passed on. You don't have to worry about passing on. Because I feel he's waiting for you." Mai crossed her arms across her chest and smiled. "I don't know how to explain it, but I think he thought you were so upset with him that he would only be a cause of your distress if he stayed."

"But if you go to him, you can tell him that you have been looking for him!"

Kiseki looked at Mai who opened her eyes and looked up to the sky, again. It looked the rain would just be a little spurt. It would stop soon... The area felt so pure. Mai couldn't help but be happy.

"So, go on then, okay?"

Kiseki moved over, and gave Mai a hug. "Thank you..." Mai felt a chill across her skin, but that was all. Although she hoped what she said next was suitable. Somehow she felt as if she was being thanked, so...

"I haven't done anything. The answer has already been there the entire time, you just couldn't find it. So if you go, you'll be happy. Everyone deserves that. Remember that, okay?"

Kiseki vanished with a nod.

"Mai, its over." The rain continued to fall. Masako looked around. Really, nothing looked to have changed at all, but it had.

Mai looked around. "Isn't this the stereotypical time for the rain to end and everything to be happy again along with a new ray of light?"

Masako sighed, as the rain lightened, but didn't show signs of stopping any time right yet. "On the figuratively bright side, you can come back to the lodge now.

* * *

Mai walked back into the lodge with Masako to the sight of everyone around the table. "Hello?" 

There were shocked faces all around (except Lin and Naru, though). Yasuhara was the next one to speak.

"I can guess that even though we have finally worked out all the kinks, it doesn't matter..."

"Wait..." Ayako said. "You mean we planted all those stupid tracker things for no reason?" She sighed and collapsed her head onto the table.

Mai shrugged, and Masako put down her umbrella. "Well, what did you find out?"

Ako pulled up a map of the crescent moon shaped lake. There were two areas sketched in.

"This is how the land around here used to be separated. A small family lived here all year round, and a fisherman lived here all year round." Mai scrutinized the map. The pond was not on it.

"The Yoasu family lived there. Kiseki was the name of the the only child. Akusen Reino lived on this other plot. He was a fisherman. His Grandson, Akusen Shouta, and himself both died in a fire, when the house burned down. Shortly after, Kiseki disappeared, and the Yoasu's left the house to rot."

"Takigawa-san and I saw that house." Masako concluded.

Mai nodded along. "And we saw the remains of the fisherman's house." Mai added.

Yasuhara smiled. "I guess I didn't come in handy. Sorry everyone, I have let you down." he said over dramatically.

Ayako sighed. "And I didn't get to show off my mad skills."

Takigawa sighed now, copying Ayako. "I'm glad. Honestly we didn't need you to make a fool of yourself."

"Oh yeah? Well you just wait. Someday, Ill show you. I'll show all of you!"

"Fake Miko." Takigawa huffed under his breath.

"Oh yeah... well you're not a real monk either!" Ayako shot back.

"But I've done better than you in the past! And I'm a bassist!"

"Like that counts!"

"It sure does!"

Ayako just turned away, sensing looming defeat.

"I am made of win!" Takigawa shouted.

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Takigawa slowly side-stepped to the other room.

Mai looked around. "Well, I'm gonna go back and get my stuff."

She waved before heading back into the rain to get her stuff.


	9. Trees Epilogue

Thanks to everyone again. I guess I pinned it when I said there would be upsetness. But hopefully this suffices. As soon as I post this, I will post the preface type thing to the next story in this set of three. Please read it two. It is going to have a large relation to the first story. For those who read it, then yeah. You can probably guess its subject matter!

Cookies to those that catch my FF:CC reference.

Disclaimer: Its in the first chapter

* * *

Epilogue- 

Mai was wandering around looking for anything left lying around the area. There wasn't much anymore, a few cord her and there (Mai made sure she had those which she had borrowed from her neighbours.

After picking up all the cords, and inspecting the room, she determined that it was empty.

"Right then. I'm going to go to the pond, and bring back the camera there." Mai put her microphone on her ear, and walked out the door. The rain had stopped about 20 minutes ago, and she was glad to be able to go back outside. She wanted to see the pond again.

Nobody responded, and Mai realized the place was particularly devoid of people. Ako sat at the kitchen table, and Naru was sitting in a chair flipping through whatever it was that he always seemed to find so fascinating.

Mai sighed and opened the door to the outside air. Takigawa and Ayako were loading stuff into the vehicle. Mai passed John the bundle of cords, and a few other things that she found lying around. "I'll be back." She started up the hill, and turned on her microphone.

She was almost at the top, when Masako called for her. "Mai!"

Mai turned. "I'll come too." Mai nodded, and they continued to the top of the hill, before seeing that the path that had once been simple to get up and down was now destroyed.

"well." said Mai. "I'm okay sliding down, even if I get a bit muddy. But you..?" Masako looked down the path. which was now covered in mud to the point that the best footholds from before were now useless.

Mai almost laughed. "You go first." Masako said.

Mai closed her eyes before bursting forward onto the mud and successfully sliding down without getting covered in mud.

Masako was surprised she managed. It looked tricky. Ayako was right behind Masako all of a sudden. "That was amazing Mai!"

Mai blushed a bit. Ayako looked carefully at the path, the began stepping down slowly. Masako followed in her footsteps, and the two of them made it to the bottom together.

Mai smiled, and they continued into the pond area.

Ayako looked around. "This place is so pure! You guys really should have left the exorcism to me! Honestly!"

Mai sighed. "Yeah, I really believe you. Especially since you have given us a such good reason to believe you before now."

Ayako just sighed. "Oh yeah? Well, I'll show you some day." Masako started snickering a bit, before quickly covering her mouth. "What?" Ayako said, looking over to Masako.

Masako had a particularly blank expression on her face.

Ayako sighed. Mai went over and grabbed the camera and stand. Her bag, as well as the makeshift tent had already been disassembled, so it was all that disturbed the beautiful scenery.

"yeah, okay, maybe some day Ayako." Mai turned and looked out over the water.

_I hope you're happy Kiseki. Maybe he was waiting for you to come to him._

A voice in Mai's ear disrupted her thoughts. "We're leaving now. Hurry up and bring the camera." It was Naru.

Mai sighed and looked over to the other two, who were silently surveying the scenery. "Yeah okay, its time to go."

Ayako looked around a bit before they started out towards the car. "I hope we can come back to this place."

Mai turned now too. "But you were right Ayako. This place is so pure. The trees..."

One of the things that Mai had always found amazing about the pond area was that there was never any wind. But there was a sudden, and lonely gust that blew through the area. It grabbed a memory, and continued on its way to end off in a cave somewhere.

The trees rustled around the three SPR members for the first time they had every heard. The trees, in a wave formation, bent over once, and resumed they original position as if waving.

Mai waved back, and they walked out of the area for the last time.

--Fin

-The 3lemon3


End file.
